Detroit: Become Boyfriends
by CosmicBash
Summary: After the events of the game Connor is still getting used to his new deviancy and all the emotions and sensations that come with it. Detective Reed is still an asshole to him despite his new position as an official officer of the DPD and for some reason makes Connor feel conflicting and strange emotions.
1. Chapter 1

Despite everything that Connor had gone through over the past several months with the android revolution, his own succumbrance to deviancy, and several near death experiences, he had never felt as alive as he did once he became a real detective. Entering the DPD station as not just an android sent from Cyber Life but a full fledged member of the Detroit Police Department. Captain Fowler, with Franks persuasion of course, had offered him a position on the force. Seeing as androids now had rights and the freedom to have a job of their choice he said it would only make sense for an android originally made to assist in police investigations to continue to do so. It had filled Connor with so much pride to hear Hank call him "Detective Anderson" and present him with his own Badge and ID as soon as he'd exited Fowler's office. Hank had laughed and patted him on the back explaining that it would have been embarrassing if he had turned down the offer, and that he had planned on guilt tripping him into accepting it either way.

Which wouldn't have been hard considering Connor felt like he owed everything to Hank. The man had gone from a obstacle in a case to a father figure in such a short time, even taking him into his home and giving him his own identity once he was officially a citizen and no longer property of cyber life. At first Hank had joked to him that giving him his last name was solely to pass along any orders sent "Detective Anderson's" way but after seeing that Connor hadn't full gotten the joke just admitted that since he was like a son to him it only made sense that family shared a last name. Connor always knew the lieutenant had to have a soft side deep down somewhere, the probability of it skyrocketing when he had met Sumo the detectives well loved pet.

Still just being able to walk side by side into the office and reclaim his desk as "Detective Connor" and not just "Lieutenant Andersons Android" filled him with too many emotions for him to properly sort through. They were new and exciting as well for him. Ever since he had fully released himself to his deviancy and accessed his programming to activate more "human" software he found himself experiencing his everyday life in all new ways. He could now feel the actual temperature around him, not just know the exact degree. He would never have to worry about hypothermia or heat exhaustion but he could appreciate the warmth of the sun on his face or the chill of the wind against his back. He just felt so alive.

There are of course some negatives he had found to unlocking these systems. He no longer had much control over his composure. Human emotions could be so sudden and confusing to him, just the other day he experienced a phenomenon that Hank described as "road rage". While it had been quite hilarious to the detective Connor had been left with a knot like feeling in his stomach, a head ache, and itchy hands. His stress levels had significantly shot up during the incident and left him angry and confused once it was over. Logically he knew he had fed off of the other angry drivers emotions and briefly let himself be swayed by their emotions but deep down he felt disappointed with himself. He was very used to and happy with being his usual calm and collected self, diverging from that norm was uncomfortable to say the least.

When he voiced this to Hank afterwards the detective had only shrugged and told him that that was life, and not to get so bothered most humans have little control of their emotions and they've had them their whole life. He was still new to the concept, and just needed to experience them more to understand where they come from and how to manage them.

He was encouraged to seek out the cause of feelings he didn't yet understand and expose himself to that same feeling until he better understood it. So that's what he was doing, taking walks in the rain, offering to drive during rush hour, and subjecting himself to "heart wrenching oldies" at home. By far watching the films had provided him the most insight into human emotion. One about a pair of lost pets journeying to find their master actually brought tears to his eyes. Perhaps it had to do with Sumo's cuddly presence in his lap at the time but nevertheless he thoroughly enjoyed them.

He was drawn out of his introspection by a ball of paper hitting the back of his head. Without having to turn around he knew from the trajectory and speed that it had come from the area surrounding detective Reed's desk. Despite his promotion to citizen and detective the mans view of him as a mindless machine hadn't changed in the slightest. If anything the promotion caused more contempt to be aimed his way. Reed was very vocal about his displeasure at Connors continued employment with the department, using it to further his argument that androids would have them all out of jobs in no time.

Ironically despite his own desire to avoid and ignore the detective as much as possible Connor found that Reed greatly affected him. The man was able to stir up emotion in Connor much easier than even the films did. A lot of them were still unknown to him as well, just the sight of the moody detective gave him a strange fluttering feeling where his stomach should be. In the few times the detective had gotten in his face since his deviancy he had found his hands itching the same way they did when he was sitting in traffic with that angry driver. Of course Hank's advice to expose himself to these feelings over and over hung heavy on his mind. On one hand he wanted to figure out what exactly they were, on the other hand he was not eager to expose himself to the other detectives moods.

After a few more weeks of easing himself into his new permanent position in the department and the freedom that came with being given his first and sole case to solve he felt more confident in facing his problem with detective Reed headon. It seemed that the time he had allowed to pass had helped the detective to settle down and accept his role on the force. While he was still rude and dismissive of Connor he had at least lightened up on the harassment and opted to mostly ignore his presence to focus on his own cases.

Connor was reading an article in the break room when Detective Reed came in with a sour expression. Connor glanced up at him and noted immediately that the detective looked visibly uncomfortable and remained in the doorway.

"Alright Plastic, listen up. Apparently your closure rates have convinced fuckwad Fowler that I'm doing a shit job, I mean forget that I actually worked my ass off to get this job and have been working it for years and wasn't just assembled on a fucking assembly line barely a YEAR ago-"

"Actually Detective my model of android isn't mass produced on-"

"I don't give a fuck where or how your nuts and bolts were put together!" Reed pushed into the room now and slammed his hands onto the table Connor was sat at. "The bottom line is you're making me look BAD, you stupid fucking machine! All of you goddamn machines just seem to want to ruin my life. Every day it's another stupid call to a scene over you pricks getting your feelings hurt. Boohoo, I don't care how many laws they pass you metal fuckers aren't anything like us."

There it was again the knot like feeling in his chest, Connor tried his best to keep his expression neutral like every other time the detective chose to come vent his frustrations. From this distance he could easily see the flush on Reed's face, could see the tiny veins starting to appear from how much he was straining himself to retain such a agitated expression. Mentally he noted that there was a 85% chance of physical altercation were he to provoke the detective at all.

Of course since his awakening Connor had found some enjoyment in standing his own ground.

"As you are well aware detective the Equality Act along with several other laws, that I'm more than happy to list of for you were altered last year to include androids such as myself. While yes freedom of speech is still protected under the first amendment and you are free to voice your displeasure with my kind, as a police officer you are required to put aside any bias you have to ensure that any crime committed against another citizen is appropriately-" His monotonous dialogue was cut short by the detective grabbing him by his jacket and forcing him into the counter behind them. His commitment to remaining blank faced had admittedly been broken by the action.

"FUCK YOU, YOU USELESS PIECE OF PLASTIC!"Now he could really see the veins in detective Reeds forehead, at this position he could even faintly hear the mans heart pounding hard in his chest. He knew that the detective was just looking for a reaction, any excuse to take another swing at him. He could feel his own thirium pump beating fast, simulating adrenaline and making his hands itch once more.

"Is there any particular reason you sought out my presence detective? Perhaps the Captain requires my assistance on one of those Android related cases of yours?"He did his best to try and sound just as calm and collected as earlier, it came of more breathless than he would have liked. They met eyes for a moment, Connor finding some interest in their grayish blue color, this close he could see the flecks of more green and blue hues. Human eyes always intrigued him, they were so much more unique in comparison to android eyes. Open to the variables of genes and not just human design, some were as unique as a fingerprint. Hands tightening in his jacket drew him from his previous thought. He watched Reed chew his lip and contemplate his next move.

78% chance of physical violence, 20% chance of a verbal outburst, chance of compromise 2%.

Reed shoved him into the counter once more before releasing him and turning to leave. "Plastic prick" being muttered under his breath.

Connor took a moment to straighten out his jacket before leaving the room and heading straight to the Captain's office.

Fowler glanced up from the files on his desk and waved him inside. "I presume you spoke with detective Reed?"

"In a way, sir. I was hoping you could give me a more detailed explanation on what is going on?"

Fowler sat back and gestured to the folders on his desk. "It's nothing huge, just a series of android assaults in the city, going off of the descriptions given of the suspect and similarity in crime we believe it's primarily the work of one man. Now surely I don't need to explain to you why allowing this asshole to continue his spree would be bad for the department."

Connor nodded. "Due to the overwhelmingly supportive public opinion towards androids we wouldn't want the department to come off as indifferent or biased still. That could potentially lead to public outrage and concern for your position of running the DPD."

This made the captain smile. "Exactly, you get it. Reed however couldn't care less about putting in an actual effort to catch this guy. We have so many new cases coming in everyday that all my other guys have full caseloads, I've been trying to work with the prick and give him as few android related cases as I can but it's becoming too much of a hassle." Connor nodded in agreement as his eyes scanned over the reports in front of him.

Suspect is a human male with a light complexion , height between 5"8 and 5"10, dark hair, brown eyes, and no identifiable marks except a small tattoo on his left bicep.

The detective clapped his hands together. "So I've come up with a solution that not only will solve this case but hopefully...enlighten detective Reed to the positive side of working alongside our fellow android citizens. As of today you and detective Reed will be partners, I've already sent word to Hank on the situation and Miller is going to assist him on his current case. I'm confident you'll be able to reign in the detective and solve the case in a timely fashion."

Connor wasn't excited about this development, nevertheless he smiled at the captain and agreed. "I'll do my best."

Stepping out of the captains office he immediately found Hank looking over at him and couldn't help but walk over and ask for advice.

"By the look on your face I'm guessing Fowler gave you your new assignment."Hank chuckled and Connor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Is my displeasure really that obvious?"

The older man shrugged. "I don't think anyone takes any pleasure in working with Reed, he's an arrogant asshole. Especially to you" Smiling he slapped Connor on the shoulder. "Cheer up son, at least he's a good detective, the two of you should have this case solved in no time. Heck if you're really lucky maybe you'll even be able to convince him to pull that stick out of his ass."

"I highly doubt working together will have any effect on detective Reeds opinion on androids, if anything it's statistically more likely to further his dislike of us. He's already voiced that he feels that I'm making him 'look bad' and… and he's just a.."

"Prick."

Connor sighed and took his seat at his desk, his LED was spinning and flashing yellow. If he could get a headache this is probably what it would feel like.

Across from him Hank just reassured him. "Cmon Connor don't let the asshole know he's getting to ya, think of it as a right of passage here in the department. Eventually we all had to work a case or two with him. Hell use it as a chance to finally shut the asshole up, he wants to constantly complain about how androids are useless and inferior or whatever, so catch the fucking bad guy. Then rub it in the pricks face how a 'machine' just waltzed in and solved his case in a 1/4th of the time he wasted on it."

Nodding in agreement Connor abruptly stood up and started to straighten out his clothes once more, even adjusted his tie. Hank cheered him on from his chair. "Now go over there and knock him dead kid."

Losing his composure Connor gave Hank a slightly panicked look. "I-I'm not hoping to murder him Lieutenant, that would be an offense punishable by deactivation! I merely want….want him to.."

"Shut the fuck up?"

"Not the wording I would prefer to use, but yes. And to treat me as a fellow officer."

The lieutenant smiled at him and shooed at him with his hand. "You'll do fine son, just promise me one thing, if you get the chance, please give that fucker a good sucker punch."

"Alright! I can't promise things will resort to physical violence but I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind!" One more nervous tie straighten and Connor was on his way over to Detective Reeds desk. Once he was close enough he noticed headphones in the other man's ears and was unsure how to proceed. Tapping him on the shoulder would most likely set the man off, so would plucking them from his ears, but waiting around silently until noticed could potentially come off 'creepy' as Miller had once told him, he could possibly email the detective since he WAS currently browsing his computer. In the current situation emailing seemed like the most reasonable option.

"...what..the fuck?"the detective mumbled to himself before slowly turning around and slightly jumping when he finally saw Connor. Just standing a few feet behind him.

"Jesus Fucking Christ plastic!"

"Ah! Detective! I'm glad you've finished listening to your playlist, Captain Fowler has informed me that until the current case of assaults against androids are solved we are to be partners, I'm looking forward to our working together and hope that-"

Reed cut him off. "How long were you just standing there? And HOW the hell do you know what I was doing?"

Slightly annoyed Connor sighed. "I very clearly emailed you as soon as I had realized you were busy, that seemed like the most appropriate way to get your attention."

It was the detectives turn to sigh and put his face in his hands. "Fowler isn't paying me enough to have to deal with a stupid machine all day."

Opting to ignore the detectives melodrama Connor continued on. "As I was saying, I hope that this experience can be a good stepping stone in building a mutual respect for one another. I would also like to suggest allowing me to reinterview one or two of the victims and see if I could possibly link with them to get a better glance at our suspect and how the crime was committed."

Reed peered up at him through his hands and Connor felt a unfamiliar flip flopping in his stomach. There was a moment of silence before the detective finally spoke. "Fine. As much as I highly doubt you'll be able to scrounge up any more evidence than I already have, I could use a bite to eat anyway."

With that he got up from his chair and pulled on his jacket. Connor made a confused face but followed after him anyway. "I really would like to interview them as soon as possible, could we stop for food afterwards?"

"If you had bothered to read any of the files you'd know one of the androids attacked works at a burger joint, I'll grab my lunch while you sync up with your metal buddy or whatever the hell you fucks do." Reed sighed and hit the button for the elevator. "Just don't embarrass me plastic. And don't get the wrong idea, we're not gonna become best butt buddies like you and Anderson. No hair braiding, late night chats, or whatever gay shit you too probably get up to. This is solely so fucking Fowler doesn't write me up for insubordination..again"

Notes:

So this is my first fic for Detroit, obviously, but also my first proper published fanfiction in over 5+ years so I'm gonna be a bit rusty here but I am very excited to get back into the community and hear your feedback! I've got a baby so I can't guarantee a update schedule but I'm already starting chapter 2 so if you like it so far please let me know!  
Also I'm going off of let's plays I've seen and haven't gotten to play the game yet so I apologize if I get anything incorrect.  
Also this is completely written on an iPad and not beta'd so sorry for mistakes!  
Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

Gavin really fucking hated these self driving cars. Growing up he had been so excited when they were first released, boy was he wrong. The prospect of being able to just sleep his way to the next destination, or to sit back and relax, or eat a full course meal had just been so tempting. But the hype really wore off fast; you can't sleep or eat every time you're sitting in the car, and eventually you're just not tired or not hungry. Watching TV sure as hell didn't help either, and it was just so boring sitting there fidgeting with his hands. These stupid fucking cars even give way to asshole drivers who cut him off. All he did was get stuck with a stupid robot car that he couldn't use to cut off assholes, or brake check tailgaters with. Fucking Anderson always had to rub his classic car in his face too every time they met at a crime scene.

Right now though, with that plastic prick sitting next to him, he really hated his choice of upgrading cars. At least a regular person would start some fucking small talk, instead his new robot partner sat there perfectly still in silence. God, it was torture. Who would've thought he would actually want the damn hunk of bolts to speak for once?

Finally, Gavin had had enough and groaned, putting his face into his hands. "Could you be any more fucking annoying right now, plastic?"

He could see the robots expression shift slightly as it turned to look at him. "Annoying? Are you feeling okay, detective? I don't think I've been doing, well, anything, this whole car ride."

"That's the fucking point, I have no idea how Anderson can deal with just sitting in goddamn silence all the time. Could you at least pretend to be human? Like make some fucking small talk or something?"

"Small talk? Is my silence making you uncomfortable detective? My apologies, I had assumed you might not want to engage in conversation during the duration of our ride, because of my…"The android looked like it was at a loss for words, and Gavin couldn't help but sigh again. This was so much worse than the time he got saddled with those fucking police academy cadets.

"H-how are you feeling about the weather today?"

Gavin groaned once more, and silently prayed for the car to somehow drive itself off a cliff. "The fucking….Jesus Christ, this is as good as it gets with you machines huh? It's fucking pouring outside, how do you think I'm 'feeling' about the goddamn weather?"

Surprisingly the android had the gall to sound chipper. "While it may not be a favorite weather pattern of yours, I personally find weather like this very relaxing. It was actually one of the first sensations I felt after altering my programming as well." Connor turned to look out the window. "There's just something very aesthetically pleasing about the clean shine the whole city gets after days like this as well." It was a surprising answer. Gavin had figured a machine might hate the rain.

"It doesn't screw with like your wiring or something? I figured you robots would be like a cellphone left out in the rain. Was worried I'd have to send Fowler a bill for a couple tons of rice, to bury you in if you got wet." He couldn't help but snort at his own joke.

What wasn't surprising was the androids obliviousness to a goddamn joke.

"Androids are far more technologically advanced than cell phones detective Reed, and as a RK800 model I am even more so. Our skin is completely synthetic and almost exactly the same as your own. We are able to shower, bathe, and even swim with no problem. It was a very important aspect of our design, due to coming in contact with water being extremely unavoidable for most android professions. It also helped with blending in-"

"You're a real chatterbox aren't you? I'm starting to regret ending the awkward silence." Gavin said, finding himself sighing for the millionth time that day. This really just kept getting worse and worse. Why couldn't Fowler have just taken him off the case and given it to Hank and this dork? Did he honestly have to torture him like this?

He'd never been so relieved to pull up to a burger joint before.

"Thank god," Gavin sighed, quick to hop out once the car had parked itself. Now he could grab a burger and enjoy a quiet lunch while plastic handled the Vic. Connor was quick to get out as well and follow him.

"So our android is a model AV500. Likes to go by Thomas, shouldn't be too hard for you to pick him out. Last month after closing up the restaurant, he went out back to toss the last bag of garbage and was jumped. Says he didn't get a good look at the suspect. One second he was dropping the bag into the dumpster, and the next he felt a metal bat connect with the back of his head. The suspect then proceeded to repeatedly strike the android 31 times until it…" Gavin squinted at his own handwriting. "Shut down or whatever, and then he picked him up and tossed him in the dumpster. Luckily for our guy, it wasn't trash day the next day."

Connor picked up his pace, and Gavin glanced at him from the corner of his eye, as the android seemingly read over his notes in his hand. "31 times? That's a lot of aggression… Did you rule out the possibility of this being personal? Is there any connection between the attacks, other than a similar description?"

"What, you think I don't know how to do my fucking job?"

This made the android look up and meet his eyes, as he stopped right outside the front doors. "Of course not detective. I spent the beginning of our car ride scanning through your old cases, and you've shown a remarkable success rate, and eye for detail in the past. I merely…." It was interesting to see the machine search for something to say. If Gavin didn't know any better, he might actually think the machine looked nervous. But it was all for show, he knew they couldn't actually feel anything. "I just think… That your personal opinions regarding androids… Could be hindering you utilizing your full potential to solve the case."

Ah. So the machine thought the same thing Fowler thought about him. That he was fucking incompetent and didn't know how to do his goddamn job.

"Fuck you, plastic. I'm not a little girl who lets her fucking feelings get in the way of my work. I can separate my personal shit from my fucking job." He gave the stupid machine a hard shove before heading inside. It was taking a lot of control for him to act professional and not just kick the shit out of the bucket of bolts.

His eyes locked with the android behind the counter immediately upon entering. To his surprise, the thing had the gall to smile at him.

"Detective! It's great to see you back again!" It grinned lopsidedly at him, starting to walk around the counter so that they could meet in the back room. With its red hair and goofy expressions, it reminded him a lot of a kid he knew back in high school. There were actual scars that he could make out under the androids sleeves, somehow making it harder for him to be as much of an ass as he usually was. Those fuckers at cyberlife really knew how to make these things human-like… Well, most of them at least.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna need you to answer a few more questions for me."

"Of course! Anything to help! I'm truly glad to see you are still taking a hands on approach to my case." The android was in front of him, now still smiling, but Gavin thought he noticed some tears welling up in its eyes. Before he knew it, he was being pulled into a tight hug. "I was so worried that… Because of what I am, no one would care to find the guy who did this." Thomas started to tear up a little, and pulled back, giving his shoulders a squeeze. "I just want to thank you so much, Detective Reed."

Gavin was actually at a loss for words. He hadn't even come close to catching the guy yet. Why the hell was the thing being so grateful?

"I-I...uh…"'

His face was burning at this point, and he finally noticed Connor smiling at him as well.

"Alright, yep! That's enough," He grumbled, shrugging off the other androids hands. Thomas wiped at his eyes, apologizing. "Sorry for being emotional detective, I just really appreciate that you're taking my case seriously. Whatever you need me to do to help, I'll do my best."

Gavin was burning with embarrassment over the whole situation. He really hated when any victims got emotional and touchy with him. And in front of that smug plastic prick too, to make it worse. "Alright, Connor, do your iPod sync thing or whatever."

The android ignored him and shook hands with Thomas, big smiles all around. "My name's Detective Anderson. I was wondering if you would allow me to probe you memories so that I could have a first hand look at your attack? I was unfortunately not involved with the case when you were first interviewed, and I'm afraid the pictures don't provide me with as much information as I would like."

Thomas looked a bit nervous now. "If.. If that's what you think will help catch this guy, then I can't really say no. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do everything in my power to help protect other androids from what I went through."

Gavin watched in interest as the two gripped arms, their skin dissipating and the white plastic casing beneath being revealed. Both their LEDs blinked a spastic yellow for a few seconds before they broke apart, Connor jerking back, out of breath. It was shocking to Gavin, seeing the android suddenly so unsettled. Thomas didn't look very relaxed about whatever happened either.

Connors eyes remained closed as he started his description. "The… The suspect is a white male, height 5,11, black hair pulled back into what seems like a bun. Brown eyes. He's got calloused hands, so a working man, not someone who would sit behind a desk all day. Shoe size 10, and I still wasn't able to get a good look at his tattoo, but it appears to be something tribal. You didn't find fingerprints correct?"

"Uh... Y-yeah," Gavin stuttered, staring at him a bit, amazed, before flipping open his notebook. "Crime scene techs… The techs found 'no partial or full fingerprint samples' on the bat or the dumpster lid. We were under the impression the perp wore gloves, how th-"

"He wasn't wearing gloves. Because of his grip on the bat, I unfortunately wasn't able to scan his fingers, but there's a high probability he won't have any fingerprints. I detected some minor burn scarring around the edge of his thumb."

"What, like he burnt off his fingerprints?"

Connor opened his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face. "Precisely, detective. The perpetrator burned off his own fingerprints before committing the crime, but the question is why? Why not just wear gloves? Or, simply take the weapon and wipe down the scene? Why would a person go through such permanent lengths to conceal their identity?"

"He's not planning on stopping." Gavin said, feeling a little breathless. Just like that; barely and hour on the case, and the robot already had a more detailed description than anything Gavin had come up with over a month. And all it took was a literal touch of his hand.

"Afraid not, and going off of the previous attacks, he's steadily escalating in his level of violence due to his confidence in not being caught. The alleyway is far from secluded; there may not have been cameras, but anybody walking down the street could have looked over and interrupted him. There's a high chance that his next attack will be much more public."

Gavin quietly nodded, his mind buzzing over what just happened. There was no way he could compete against a machine like this. No amount of sleuthing or legwork could compare to being able to view a crime directly through a victims eyes.

"So… So my memories helped?" Thomas said, looking a bit excited. Connor put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, it's a major break in the case! Thank you so much Thomas, we honestly wouldn't have been able to discover any of this without you."

The android was quickly pulled into a tight hug, that when finished, Gavin saw coming his way as well. He was quick to put a hand out this time to intercept, and forced his own smile.

"I'm good, kid. Thanks for the help." Thomas didn't seem to take offense, and just smiled once more in return.

"Of course, I.. I'd like to make you some lunch, on the house! I remember hearing you say how much you loved our burgers here, Detective. I really insist, it's the least I can do to show you my gratitude."

Gavin's stomach growled in agreement at the suggestion. Better to stuff his face than to face an existential crisis. "Eh why not, I was hoping to grab something anyway. Fill one of those soda cups up with some oil or whatever for Detective Anderson over here, and surprise me." He snickered, trying to sound like his usual snarky self.

Thomas continued to give him that goofy smile, apparently taking his dig at androids as a light hearted joke. "I'd be delighted!"

Ten minutes later Gavin was finally able to get back to his crappy car, sit back, and stuff his face. Despite being an android, the kid could sure make a good damn burger. If it wasn't for the other two victims, he would consider any of the joints competition as suspects.

"God this is a good goddamn burger, you're really missing out here plastic. I don't know how you can consider yourself alive when you can't appreciate the beauty of food," Gavin joked. This was really hitting the spot. Screw whatever the hell he was worried about earlier. The stupid robot may have the upper hand when it comes to solving android crimes, but none of that fancy skin touching, memory swapping bullshit is useful when it comes down to good old fashioned man on man murder.

"While I'm sure that burger," The android started, actually looked a bit grossed out as he watched the brunette inhale the greasy mess of food. "Tastes delicious. Although, it certainly doesn't seem like the best idea to eat so much greasy food for lunch while we're on a case. The health hazards are smaller than the ways it could hinder you if we were to run into our suspect and have to engage in a foot chase. For tomorrow may I suggest a sal-"

Taking a big loud slurp of his soda, Gavin flipped the android off. "Fuck off, I'm gonna eat whatever the hell I want. Anyway, if we were to somehow run into the guy, that's what you're here for. I'll sit back and relax while you use your magical super robot programming to chase the guy down and arrest him, then bring him back to me."

"Super? Magical? There's nothing magical or fictional about my programming detective. Yes, one of my features created by Cyberlife is to be able to catch up with and apprehend a suspect. However, my chance of success will be severely lowered if we aren't doing so as a team. To complete our mission and close this case it is imperative that we work together."

Gavin took another long loud slurp of his drink and pretended to contemplate what the android had said, before shrugging his shoulders. "You see, if you were an actual 'detective', and not just some plastic prick who was gifted this position, I would probably agree with you. But let's get one thing clear here. I don't care what anyone has to say. You're still just a fucking robot. And as a robot, your primary focus should be making my life and job easier. So if I don't feel like chasing down a suspect, then that's on you."

He was happy to notice the androids LED spinning yellow, and couldn't help but crack a smile as he ate a few fries. Connor stayed silent for a moment, just before starting to type in another address on the GPS. Gavin's eyes lit up when he realized it was for the Eden Club.

"Need to relieve some tension?" He snickered. "Look at you, getting-"

"There was another attack Detective. I just received the call over my scanner. I let patrol know we were only 15 minutes out, and would be on the scene shortly."

Gavin almost choked on his drink. "Holy shit, looks like you might get to show off those criminal catching skills of yours today after all."

Thankfully, these damn cars come with a police siren. After this case though, was seriously going to start looking for a new car.

"Why the fuck didn't I hear it over my scanner?" He asked, fumbling with the volume and other buttons for a moment.

"It's off." The android hit a button, and static filled the car. Gavin felt his cheeks burn.

"Stupid fucking technology. Okay, so give me a quick run down on the call."

"Android female, a WR400 Traci model that goes by the name Brianna. The club owner was notified by another android employee that they had saw her head outside the club through a back exit, with a customer, and still hasn't returned. When the owner went out back to see what was going on, he found a trail of blue blood leading up to the dumpster. The android is currently not active, and they're awaiting our arrival to assess the damage. There were no model PC200's available to do so until we get there. From eyewitness testimony, it would seem we are looking at a homicide case this time."

The car came to a stop just as Connor was finishing up, and Gavin chucked his food bag into the backseat before climbing out.

The rain was still pouring out and he cursed. "Fuck, I doubt we're gonna get much evidence with all this fucking rain. Probably washing the goddamn shit away as we speak. Asshats better have put up a tarp or something."

The entrance to the club had an officer waiting outside, who waved them in. There was another officer talking to the owner, next to a door crossed with holographic police tape. Immediately, he looked up and scanned the ceiling for cameras. One, facing the wrong way. Big suprise, wouldn't expect an establishment like this to have many. Connor followed close behind him as they approached the owner.

"Detective Gavin Reed. You wanna tell me what you know about the victim? How long has she been working here?" Gavin asked. It was still crazy to him that after everything with the androids fighting for their rights, some of them decided to CHOOSE to continue working at a place like this.

"She… She only started about two months ago. A real shame, she had potential." He chuckled. The greaseball was giving him a sly smile despite how green around the gills he looked. "I'm sure some of my employees could tell you more. It's a real mess out there, I hope you can resolve this quickly."

Gavin could read between the lines. He knew, in reality, that it all boiled down to "All you cops here are hurting my business, if you could kindly hurry the fuck up and leave I'd appreciate it." Gavin rolled his eyes and motioned for Connor to finish up talking to other officer, and head out back with him.

Lucky day, they had actually put up a tarp to try and help preserve what evidence was left. Seems like the alleyway had a bit of an overhang. While the trail of blue blood they had reported was no longer visible, there was some faint splatters on the alley wall. His eyes scanned the ground… No sign of footprints. The edge of a crowbar sticking out from under the dumpster spiked his interest, he'd bet that was his murder weapon. Turning to tell Connor, he was shocked to see the android wiping his fucking fingers through his evidence.

"What the hell are you doing? Didn't fucking cyberlife program you with the basics of not contaminating a goddamn crime scene? You stupi-" He started, reeling in shock as he saw the robot bring his fingers to his mouth. "W-what?! No, no, don't fucking put it in your mouth!"

It was like having a toddler on scene. The damn robot even had the audacity to look at him in shock when Gavin snatched back his hand and pulled it away from his mouth. "What the FUCK, plastic?!"

"Is there something wrong detective?" Connor asked, looking at him like a child who got caught in the cookie jar, except this wasn't cookies. It was fucking android blood.

In response Gavin gripped his hand tighter and waved the damn thing in front of his face. "Why the hell are you trying to eat my evidence?"

"Oh." Connor said, started to laugh. "Sorry, I forgot this is our first time working a scene together. I possess the ability to analyze biological evidence, such as thirium." He wiggled his fingers at Gavin. "It will automatically be compared to our DNA database, or in this case, Cyberlife's database, on androids to tell me the exact model and serial number of the android it came from. Hank once described it as having a forensic lab of sorts in my mouth. So if you would..." The robot gently gripped his wrist and pulled his hand free. "I'd like to continue our investigation." Connor promptly licked the blood off of his fingers while holding eye contact.

Gavin's cheeks flushed with color once more, and he quickly ripped his hand from the androids, before knocking his shoulder into him to take off towards the dumpster. "Fucking weirdo."

The lid was already propped open, so Gavin pulled on his gloves before grabbing the other closed lid, and pulled himself up onto the lip to look inside. As soon as he did, he wished he hadn't gotten such a close look. At first glance, it looked like a young woman her limbs bent and broken... Just stuffed into the dumpster like yesterday's trash. Upon looking closer, he saw that where flesh and blood would have been visible, instead just wires and metal peeked through.

Faint blue blood was in the place of red. It was a gruesome body. Maybe the greasy lunch wasn't such a good idea after all. Hesitantly, he reached out and brushed some of their out of the way to get a look at her face. He let out a hiss of air when an empty socket looked back at him. The androids face was smashed to hell and back.

"Christ..." This guy was definitely escalating. Hopefully this one managed to get a hit in on him, or even just scratch him. That would get them some DNA. He gently lifted the hand that was bent underneath her and examined her fingers. Beautiful fake nails on top of her already fake nails. One was at least broken off, so that gave some hope. If they're lucky, it wouldn't be from when he tossed her in here, and she had actually gotten the guy. He waved to get Connors attention. "Keep an eye out for a nail plastic. She might have lost it during the attack."

The android strode over to him and peered inside, a sad look coming over his face. "She never saw it coming."

Gavin eyed him as he examined the was slightly annoying to him that the android hadn't needed to climb like he had to get a better look. Damn thing had to be taller than him on top of everything else.

His eyes once more locked onto the LED on his temple. It wasn't as common of as sight now after the revolution. Most androids had removed them to better blend in. If Connor was a deviant like he said, why not take it out as well? He always wanted to bitch and moan at the office how he was an "officer of the DPD, just like everyone else," but still kept that stupid night light on the side of his head.

It was spinning and blinking yellow as Gavin looked over. Gavin briefly wondered if that was how his computer buffered, and if the android was searching through the databases silently in his head. He must have been lost in his thoughts, because the android was looking at him, now repeating Gavin's name.

"Y-yeah?" He didn't like how close they were, and hopped down.

"I was saying that I reconstructed how the attack went down, and wanted to give you the rundown." Connor started walking over to the exit door, while Gavin nodded.

"Alright, so the perp and our Vic came through here. She was ahead of him, possibly holding his hand to lead him outside. There's a possibility that coming out here was her idea," Connor said, taking a few steps and motioning to the rain puddle at his feet. "Now as you know, blue blood doesn't remain visible for very long. Luckily, I am still able to pick it up where it may be invisible to your naked eye. The rain did wash away a good amount, but from what I can see, and going off some of the spray on the wall, I would say that this is the point of first impact. She was turning at the time." The android demonstrated.

"When the first blow hit her, it out her left orbital socket. She would have stumbled, blood dripping along here." He pretended to stumble into the wall, his hand landing over a dry smudged handprint. "Here, as she leaned against the wall, is when he continued bashing on her with the crow bar. I suspect he took her out at her legs first to knock her fully to the ground. I calculated 40 points of impacts. There wasn't any hesitation like you saw in the previous attack. He was determined with these hits, angry. She struggled to her feet at one point, and headed this way towards the fence. But she didn't make it very far with how badly her leg was injured."

Connor motioned Gavin over to the fence and crouched down. Following his gaze, Gavin saw it; the Traci's fake nail, just outside the fence. "I think she grabbed onto the fence and he hit her arm. The nail must've caught on the wire and popped off. Then, he just kept swinging until she stopped moving all together."

The mental image made his stomach churn a little. This woman... Just struggling for her life. "Once he was finished, he again seized the opportunity to use the dumpster to conceal his crime. Might have hoped the rain would wash away the blood, and if he had gotten lucky, she would have been hauled away with the trash tomorrow." Connor paused, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. Whatever it was he must've decided not to share it, because he just looked back over at Gavin instead. "How would you like to proceed now detective?"

Gavin took a moment to look over the scene once more. "Uh… Bag that nail up first for evidence. I'll talk with the officers inside about making sure that dumpster is thoroughly gone through. Forensics won't be happy, but who knows we could get lucky." He said, dragging a hand through his hair. "Let's talk to some of the other androids working inside. Someone had to have seen the scumbags face. This isn't like his other attacks, they were all after hours."

Connor nodded, and got to work, while Gavin headed back inside. The god awful lighting bothered his eyes instantly along with the music. Now that androids were free people, it had gone through a series of renovations to make it similar to most other brothels. Gone were most of the glass containers the androids would stand behind, and now there were comfy seats in their place. The androids were free to walk around as well now and go up to customers by themself. Of course, there were still a few who stuck to the whole sex doll routine behind the glass for the sickos who were into that. This definitely made it a lot easier to get information. He had heard how the captain had nearly had a heart attack once he'd gotten the bill from Lieutenant Anderson for his and Connor's last visit to the club. He spotted an upset blonde Traci hovering nearby and decided to go to her first. Out of habit, he flashed her his badge and a smile.

"Detective Gavin Reed. Mind if I ask you a few questions?" He asked, his gaze drifting down her scantily clad body. It was a shame they made all these fucking robots so good looking .She could easily be his dream woman in the looks pdepartment. None of them had real genuine feelings though, just whatever their programming allowed them to have.

"Is… Is she dead? Frank won't tell us anything and… And Bri was such a sweet girl. She hasn't even been here that long." The android's voice was shaking as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"From the looks of it, she's broken beyond repair." He didn't really like using the word 'deceased' for them, as it simply didn't feel right. "Do you know what her previous employment was?"

"Oh god, Bri, oh god," She whispered, breaking into sobs. She had grabbed onto him and he tried his best to politely increase their distance. Hard to take a crying woman seriously when her big fake tits were squished against him.

"M'am, M'am please, it's okay…" But she just sobbed louder and clung on tighter. He was quickly losing his patience, he absolutely hated when people touched him, even more so when it was these goddamn robots. Now he was getting fake tears and makeup smeared all into his jacket. This time he grabbed the woman's arms firmly and separated her from him.

"M'am if you would please calm the hell down. Crying over it isn't going to help your friend now," A few officers looked his way at his outburst. "Get yourself together, alright? Now tell me do you know where she worked before here?"

She finally started to pull herself together. "N-no… Well... Sorta. It was a smaller club like this one," She said, stopping to wipe her eyes. "Bri, her club was a lot… Seedier, and not well managed. That's why she was happy to come here. It was along a highway or something. I wish I'd been on the floor when she met that guy. I can spot a nut job from a mile away, if only..."

And there went the waterworks again. At least now he knew she didn't see who the Vic left with, which thankfully meant he could move on to a different witness. "My colleague," He said, motioning to Connor. "He'll be happy to talk you through… all of this."It was an awkward way to end things but Gavin was just happy to be away from the woman and sought out a male android this time hoping they would hold themself together better.


	3. Chapter 3

Connor had no problem calming down the witness Gavin sent his way. Maybe it was because they were both androids or maybe it was just his "doe eyed sensitive man act that could charm a caged dog" as Hank would say. He personally just gave the credit to the programming he had originally been made with from cyberlife, being able to calm down and extract information from witnesses was vital to completing his job.

"Thank you so much, I...I'm so glad that there's another one of us on this case. I know you won't just let…"the former Traci android now identified as Marie choked back another sob and tried to compose herself once more. "Let what happened to Bri become buried on some hard drive somewhere and forgotten. He can't get away with what he did to her."

Connor nodded and gently grabbed her hand with both of his, turning his body to fully face her on the sofa they were resting on. "I promise I'll catch him, I won't let her pain be forgotten."

She smiled at him nodding, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. She believed him wholeheartedly.

After giving her his card and letting her know to call him anytime to check for updates or if she thinks of or finds out any new info, Connor stood up to scan the building for Detective Reed. He himself found the gaudy decor mixed with near nude bodies and fully dressed police officers a bit jarring but eventually he deduced that the detective must have gone into a different area as he was nowhere to be seen in the main room.

Not wanting to awkwardly stand around waiting he decided to take off to look around for him, lest Reed was already outside waiting by the car. Connor didn't want to have to call Hank for a ride if he ended up left behind.

A quick pop outside to look around let him know the detective was thankfully still inside somewhere so he headed towards the nearest hallway first. The lighting was still as fluorescent as he remembered from when he accompanied Hank here on their first case. A cursory look around the room didn't show the detective here either, and he couldn't help but sigh. He was becoming a bit frustrated, detective Reed was moody and combative enough as it was and he really didn't want to give him a new reason to be more so. Especially since so far they seemed to have been doing better together than first expected.

Connor was surprised that Reed was much more hands on and active in a crime scene than Hank. He had been pleased to see the detective taking the initiative to survey the scene and even climb up on a dirty dumpster to look inside and examine the victim. He could remember Hanks distaste whenever they had a case that involved trash. The detective was always quick to pass off any handling of garbage or rooting through cans to Connor once they became partners. Not that it bothered him, he completely understood how unpleasant the smell was and how few humans were happy to have to root through such waste. It seemed like Gavin was like him, not giving a second thought to having to get down and dirty to look for evidence and solve a case. Connor could easily see them making a good team if they could get past the detectives reservations against androids and his position in the department.

Heading through a walkway into the blue room Connor was relieved to finally see the detective across the room against a wall. He was about to call out to him but came to a stop as he saw the strange look on the detectives face. It was different from any he'd seen before, the flush of his cheeks visible even under the harsh blue lighting and the glare new. The android that he was interviewing was extremely close even to Connor eyes and as he scanned over the situation he could see one arm on the wall near the detectives head and the other being held tightly by the wrist like he had reached up to touch Reed's chest. Whatever was going on was distressing the detective for sure and Connor debated with himself for one more moment before deciding to intervene when he saw the detective all but snarl at the Android as he leaned even closer. The sight gave him a strange uncomfortable feeling and made his steps that much faster.

"Detective!" He called and the two looked over to him, Reed's face contorting even more in whatever that strange look was. He watched as the shorter man ripped his hand away from the others wrist and pushed the Android back.

"Let's go Plastic, the uni's and forensics can handle the rest." Reed shoved past him, knocking their shoulders together hard enough to make him almost spin around. He was obviously very upset about something and looking over to the Android in question Connor only saw the man smirk before turning away himself. The interaction had piqued his interest now, if the detective wasn't willing to share he would have to ask Hank about it, a lot of human interactions were still a mystery to him.

"Get a move on plastic!"The detective shouted over his shoulder which got his feet finally moving. He weaved his way through workers and officers eyes locked on the leather jacket rushing towards the entrance. Once outside he heard the car door slam closed and an officer stationed outside gave him a sympathetic look before giving a nod goodbye as Connor rounded the car to climb inside himself.

He was barely seated before Gavin had finished punching an address into the screen and the car started to pull out. He heard the brunette let out a frustrated huff and glanced over to look at his balled up fists as he clicked on his own seatbelt.

"Are you alright Detective?"

Reed reached up to rub the back of his neck. "That fucking robot is lucky I didn't deck his ass and toss him out with the trash too. Fucking perverted goddamn machines." That flush was back once more, not as dark as it had looked in the club but it was giving Connor that weird feeling in his stomach area again. He processed what the detective said, his interest catching on how he has called the Android perverted. "Did the Android sexually proposition you detective?"

Evidently asking that was the wrong thing to do because the man exploded. "That fucking piece of shit plastic ken doll thinks it's okay to sexually harass a detective of the DPD! All of you assholes think that just because you are suddenly 'citizens'" he used finger quotes "and are currently being given so many goddamn passes because of all the bullshit that went down, that you can just get away with anything!" He threw his arms up in the air, and had turned fully in his seat to face Connor now. "Asshole is gonna try putting his hands on me? On ME?! Oh if I wasn't like fucking 90% sure Fowler would slap me with a suspension I would have kicked that damn androids ass!" He punched the dash before crossing his arms over his chest in a huff. "I'm so sick of you robot assholes not showing me any respect!" The detective slammed his fist down once more on the center console. There was a short silence that followed that even to Connor felt like it dragged on much longer than in actuality before the detective finally sat back in his seat and spoke once more. This time much quieter, seeming to slink down in his seat as he spoke. "Fucking embarrassing."

Connor tried to search his memory for a response that might be comforting or at least not set the man off once more, but he was struggling. Hank hadn't ever gone through something like this and he didn't want to use the responses programmed for sexual assault cases as this didn't feel like that kind of situation. His mental timer started ticking down faster and faster as soon the moment would pass and it would be far too long after Reed spoke to respond with something comforting. So he panicked internally before deciding to just reach out and place a hand on the other mans shoulder and wing it. "I'm very sure no other officers or civilians witnessed what had happened Detective. I personally only caught the end of….whatever situation you had been in and it didn't…"A mental screenshot of the moment flashed in Connors mind making that feeling inside him worsen. "Necessarily look inappropriate." Saying that felt like a lie somehow, even though he couldn't grasp just what about the moment felt inappropriate to him.

The brunette sighed very loudly and shrugged his hand off, burying his face in his hands. "Jesus Christ plastic, I didn't ask you for your opinion."

The Android couldn't help but frown "Detective I-"

"Goddamit! Detective! Detective!"Gavin cut him off and mocked. "Fucking shut it with the detective already, just say Reed! Jeeze, I feel like I'm at one of those stupid officer training seminars filled with annoying newbies."

Despite the rudeness of being cut off Connor perked up a little there and couldn't hold back his loose smile. Being allowed to drop some formality was a good sign, perhaps Reed was opening up to him slightly. "It would be fine for you to just call me by Connor then as well, seeing as you already refer to Detective Anderson by his last name, no need to create any confusion." This got the grumpy man to finally look up at him from his hands. His expression was once again a unique and interesting one that Connor could already feel himself mentally filing away to look back upon.

"What are we going steady now?"Immediately he felt his smile drop slightly and Reed's expression shifted to one of annoyance. "I'm only doing it out of convenience and for my own sanity plastic. Don't misconstrue something here" Reed pointed his finger between the two of them. "We ain't actual partners let alone friends, I'm just stuck dragging your stupid artificial ass around with me to save face for the department and so these androids actually trust us enough to help us solve this case."

Now that stung, much worse than before he had fully deviated and Hank had rejected him as well. Despite this he tried to keep a small smile on his face and change the subject, choosing to look out the window instead of at the simmering man next to him. "Understood. Now I'm assuming we are on our way to talk to another victim as that isn't the address for the Station."

A beat passed before Reed finally responded and Connor heard the sound of his notebook being flipped open. "Yeah, another male android, he was the second… well third most recent attack. It happened a week before Thomas'. Which after tonight just makes less sense to me." He sighed prompting Connor to look back over at him. When he saw the questioning look that was undoubtedly on the androids face he decided to continue. "Well why wait almost a whole month? The first three attacks happened within a week to two at most of each other. So why, with how in Thomas' case we saw him escalating, would the guy take a month long break from what he's doing? He should have struck at least one other time to stay in the pattern. Something isn't adding up here."

"Maybe he didn't wait." Now Reed was the one giving him a confused and somewhat annoyed look.

"What like you think he did strike again and I missed it? How many times do I have to fucking tell you I know how to do my job Plastic?"

Shaking his head Connor put his hands up and waved them like a white flag. "No, No that's not what I mean. I fully believe in your abilities as a detective, really I do. I've looked into your case history and success rate in the past, it's very high, I'm just saying, what if the last attack wasn't reported because there was nobody for someone to report, we know from this most recent attack he's finally escalated enough to kill them. And we also know in every case he has shoved the victim in a dumpster, whether they are still alive or dead, correct? So who's to say there wasn't a victim before Bri, and that unlike her that one was picked up by the garbage truck and hauled away?" Connor was believing his own theory more and more as he said it. "And! And that would explain why tonight he committed the crime in such a public place. Anyone could have popped out the back of the club at any moment and interrupted him. If this was his first proper kill he wouldn't have taken such a high risk-"

"Something happened to give him enough confidence to walk into that club, show her his face, and then sweet talk her out into that fucking alley." The detective was definitely on board with his theory now. "How many androids were reported missing one week to 10 days ago?"

Scanning the database Connor came up with a list of 12 names.

"Okay, can you cross reference that with ones currently employed and within a 30 mile radius of where the attacks have currently taken place?"

Doing so cut his number down to 4 and he told the detective so.

"Alright, um… shit…" he started bouncing his leg rapidly and flipping through his notebook. "Were any of them reported missing at night? Like they hadn't shown up for work that morning"

"Two, they were both employed at a bar two blocks down from where Thomas' employer is located."

"Two? Type that address into the GPS, lets hit that bar first. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone saw something or he left something behind."

Connor continued to run some more searches in the background as he tapped in the new address and their ride turned off an exit.

He was drawn out of his hyper focus by Gavin's whispered. "Good thinking, bot." Glancing over her saw the detective looking down at his phone and smiled. It was another 10 minutes before they reached the bar and once more Reed was quick to hop out as soon as the vehicle had finished parking, leaving Connor to scramble out after him. To his surprise the detective didn't go towards the entrance and instead walked past it to the alleyway. It was still raining but not as hard as earlier, he had thought they would be questioning the owners first as it wasn't likely much evidence had survived over a week in the elements. When he finally reached the alley and started down he was shocked by how much dryer it was, looking up he saw a balcony two stories up from the apartment building next door.

His eyes than landed on Gavin who was once again climbing up onto the bar of a dumpster to fling it open. Seconds later a garbage bag was pulled out and dropped to the side, followed by two more. Gavin made several sounds during this and cursed under his breath. Scanning the alleyway Connor couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in disgust at the large amounts of urine and other questionable fluids that were all over. He could've sworn his thirium pump stopped for a moment when he saw the lightest splatter of dried blue blood along the apartment building wall towards the dumpster. "We've got thirium on the wall over here." He called out and Reed grunted in response, Connor barely heard it over the sound of rustling garbage and cans. He walked along the wall following the splatter towards Reed, running diagnostics to piece together what kind of splatter it could be. His systems indicating a 45% possibility of it coming from a person being hit with a blunt object.

"Hey! Plastic get over here, I think I got something!" Reed was leaning into the dumpster now one foot in the air slightly and the other on its toes along the bar. It didn't look necessarily safe to Connor who rushed over as well, instinctively putting his hands on the detectives' waist to stabilize him as he reached inside to try and grab something. Instead it did the opposite and startled the detective so bad he actually yelled and started to fall into the dumpster. "Whoa! Whoa what the fuck!?"

Luckily Connor tightened his grip and steadied the detective. "Careful!"

He felt a hard kick to his side but didn't let go. "What the fuck, get the fuck off me! Who the hell-"

Feeling a tad frustrated and angry about the now rapid leg kicks and wiggling Connor raised his voice at the detective. "Stop! I'm trying to save you from falling face first in there. Just grab the evidence and I'll pull you out." Reed protested for a few more minutes before finally just grabbing whatever he had found and practically screaming at the android to set him down. When he did finally pull the detective back out the mans wet shoes slipped slightly and he fell back against Connor's chest. Connor felt his thirium pump start to beat rapidly as his arms tightened momentarily around the detective to catch him.

Dark hair was almost tickling his nose, and for the first time he realized just how much of a height difference he and the detective had. While the fact he was taller had always been obvious in this position it really stood out. For a moment they both stood there with Connor supporting the others weight with his tight hold, this close he could detect by smell what type of leather the mans jacket was made of, and underneath that the smell of the detectives sweat. His software went into overdrive collecting information before he could even stop to ask himself why he was storing it.

He was snapped out of the daze by a very harsh whisper from the detective. "Plastic. I'm gonna give you like 4 goddamn seconds to let me the hell go or I'll be putting, YOU inside this fucking dumpster."

Instantly he pushed the detective back up onto his feet and took and step back. Apologies spilled out of his mouth for reasons he couldn't identify. This whole situation was making him feel flooded with strange emotions. They were quickly replaced with shock as a fist connected with his jaw. His head snapped to the side and lifting his fingers to his mouth he felt and saw a few drops of thirium when he pulled them back.

Reed was facing him now angry and his face flushed all the way to his ears. Connor merely looked at him with wide eyes still not understanding what he had done so wrong to warrant being punched.

"How many times do I gotta tell you to keep your phecking hands off me!"Reed cursed, so angry the word fuck came out once more like a hiss of air. He was swinging an arm in anger around which got Connors attention.

"Is that-"

"Is what-ah shit!" As if just now realizing what he had been doing and what he was now holding Reed jumped back and tossed the arm at Connor. Fumbling a little the Android eventually got a grip on the arm and held it out in front of himself to examine it. Reed was bent over dry heaving for a moment his one arm waving and pointing at him. "Is that a fucking arm?! Jesus, I can't believe I was shaking it around, I was fucking almost holding hands with it! God I'm gonna be sick."

"Without some thirium from it I'm afraid I can't properly identify it out in the field but I'd wager it's from one of our two missing androids."

Reed didn't seem to be paying any attention as when Connor looked up he was wiping his hands on his jeans and cursing once more. Connor's eyes locked onto a small splatter of blue blood that rested on the detectives cheek. Perhaps some that had been pooled inside a reservoir in the arm came free when the detective yanked it out and swung it around. That would let him quickly identify what model the arm belonged to, he needed to test it.

"Detective, hold still for a moment." He walked the few steps over to where the brunette stood and before the man could protest like Connors system flagged as a 95% possibility currently, the android reached out and used a thumb to wipe off the few drops. His eyes trained on the detectives the whole time to make sure he wouldn't get caught off guard by a sudden punch again, he brought his thumb to his mouth and licked the smear off for his systems to analyze. The detectives pupils expanded and contracted for a second then he could see the flush that had begun to fade return in earnest.

"Definitely an AJ700 model, the probability of it being our missing victim has jumped to 80%. I'd recommend we call in forensics and head inside to inform the bar owner that we will be securing his alley as a crime scene." His eyes darted down to watch the detectives adam's apple move as he swallowed before nodding, voice coming out slightly strained for some reason. "Y-yeah. Get on that plastic."

He wasn't able to observe Reed long before the detective had coughed and shoved his hands into his jean pockets to brush past him and out of the alley. Connor turned to watch him leave, feeling suddenly frustrated and confused. That familiar itch on his hands returned, like he should reach out and stop the man from leaving. But he couldn't understand what the feelings his systems were forcing on him. In the end he just stood there and quietly dialed the number needed to get all the necessary people there. He was feeling slightly defeated with himself and with how repeatedly uncomfortable he had made the detective feel today, maybe Hank was right and he did need to work on his 'social skills' more. Otherwise he was sure that they would continue to struggle on this case if he couldn't stop upsetting the detective and causing altercations.


	4. Chapter 4

"For you detective? Oh for you I'd be more than happy to show you, personally, what exactly Bri had planned to do out in that alley." The face behind those words wore a predatory smile that shot a nervous bolt of energy up Gavin's spine. The android in front of him was lean and muscular, the bicep resting against the wall was at eye level and very well defined. A feeling that he had lost control of the situation washed over the detective. How the hell did he end up on the receiving end of this just from asking the bot a few questions.

Out of nowhere there was a hand creeping up the front of his shirt and that smile grew even closer, icy eyes locking onto his. "Of course there are a lot of other…" Those eyes scanned him up and down. "things I'd love to do to you free of charge. Preferably in a plush bed, unless you like it dirty and out in public." There was a wet pop on the 'p' of public that snapped Gavin out of his momentary trance. His face flushed red with both embarrassment and anger as he snatched the hand pawing at the front of his shirt in a tight grip. On a human the hold he was applying would usually cause a suspect to crumble in on themselves and cry out in submission but on the Android it elicited no such response.

"Listen here you perverted fucking glorified vibrator, don't ever put your disgusting plastic hands on me again or I'll put a bullet between your goddamn eyes." He was absolutely fuming right now, this day was getting worse and worse.

The android merely licked his lips and chuckled. "Oh you're a feisty one aren't you. I bet you've never been fucked by an android before. I'd love to pop your cherry, I promise it'll be better than any other toy you've used in your life." He was leaning in once more and Gavin tried twisting his hand to an impossible angle, his free hand going to rest on the gun on his hip. "Shut the fuck up. You do realize I'm a cop right?"

"Oh honey, don't play coy, I can smell the heat coming off of you." That's it, he was gonna fucking shoot this fucking toaster, Fowler and the city be damned. However as soon as he had popped the button on his holster and opened his mouth to scream a slew of obscenities at the machine Connors voice cut through the low music around them. "Detective!"

His head snapped over to look at the other plastic prick that was causing him so much torment today. He swore his face somehow managed to get even hotter than before. And then the creep just had to speak once more, now leaning in closer than ever to whisper in his ear "I bet he can smell it on you too."

And that disgusting comment came right back to the front of his mind when he had fallen back against the android in question. He had felt and heard the slight sniff from Connor while being held by him and it had immediately made those words ring out in his head. It was bullshit, everything that hunk of metal had spewed. He hated these disgusting machines more than anything. Which is why as soon as he was on his feet he swung around and clocked the bastard in his mouth. Turning his LED immediately to a bright red. It was like he was wearing a sign on his back today that told every android in a 10'mile radius to invade his personal space.

His skin burned through his clothes where Connors hands had been with what he could only think of as disgust. He felt so upset that he'd completely forgotten about what he had yanked out from under some trash in the dumpster. The androids face made him finally look at what he was swinging around in his hand and his stomach dropped. He had been holding a severed android arm by its wrist.

He swore, today had to be some elaborate fucking cosmic joke. His first instinct was to toss it right at the plastic pricks head while his guts twisted in revulsion. It was some sick irony that after all the disgusting androids hands he had put up with touching him today, of course what he had assumed was a piece of metal wrapped in torn clothing ended up being yet another fucking one.

He just wanted to go home to his apartment and shower until his skin was sore, where the only thing he had to worry about invading his personal space was his goddamn cat. Because he was about to lose his shit and kill one of these bastards, the law be damned if he had to suffer through any more embarrassment today. As if whatever cosmic being up above that chose to fuck with him today had heard his thought that damn android started coming closer once more. Their eyes met and for a moment Gavin was actually grateful they were a warm brown and not an icy blue like at the Eden Club, that hooker bot was making his stomach churn, just thinking about it and the things it had uttered.

"Detective, hold still." Is what Connor had said before Gavin felt the brush of a soft thumb across his cheek. The android kept their eyes locked as he brought that thumb to his lips to suck whatever the hell it was off. The sight made his heart hammer in his chest against his will alongside his face which relit like a match tossed onto fresh gasoline. He had barely heard the machine casually rattle off the model of android and some bullshit about probability over his own heart. That perverts bullshit had really gotten to him and had him all kinds of confused today, after watching the android his mouth felt like he hadn't had a drink in ages.

As he swallowed some spit to try and help with the sudden scratchiness he noticed how those warm eyes flickered down to watch his Adam apple bob, and how the machines LED glowed a steady yellow. He had to get out of there, his brain was obviously fried from having to deal with all of these perverted plastic pricks today. He needed a stiff drink and to just go home, lock himself away in his room. He would have to settle with something from the bar when he told the bartender they were sealing off his joint.

Connor asked about calling in forensics and talking to the bar owner and Gavin managed to force himself to speak. "Y-yeah, get on that plastic." He hated that his voice had cracked but he didn't want to stand around with the machine any longer and just took off out of the alleyway. Heart was still beating harder than normal in his chest when he reached the bar door. But at least it wasn't pounding in his ears anymore. He needed to get himself together.

He was just tired and stressed, that's all. He'd snag a drink, wait for the team to show up and then head home. And god forbid if an Android in this bar put their hands on him he was going postal. That plastic bastard could stay outside by himself and wait. Give him some peace of mind for a few moments.

Inside he was hit with the smell of tobacco, cheap liquor, and grease. It was as basic as a low end bar could get, shitty lighting and cramped with a collection of varying levels of wasted patrons. He actually felt somewhat relieved when he walked up to the bar and the girl behind the counter was an actual human like himself. She was an old haggard looking bitch, but at least she wasn't made of plastic.

"What can I get for ya toots?" She croaked out in the most scratchy of 'I've smoked cigarettes since I was 12' voices he'd heard in a long time. It actually reminded Gavin of an old neighbor of his, who had been a mean but funny old woman. This made him smile and relax. Reading her nametag he pulled out his badge.

"Evening Sue. Just a regular beer, and if you could grab the owner for me that would be great." Instantly several people tried to casually get up and leave the bar or turn to face the opposite way from him. She merely raised an eyebrow before leaving to return with a cold beer and a harsh scratchy yell of "Bill! Get your ass up here! We got a cop in the house."

Now any other customers who hadn't heard or noticed him enter were also alerted to his presence, it was almost comical to Gavin how they probably thought they were being subtle. Especially when a stereotypically overweight man in suspenders came waddling out of a hallway behind the counter, cigar hanging loosely from his lips. Gavin watched the old man's eyes scan the bar before landing on himself. There was a split second where disgust and annoyance painted the mans features but it was quickly replaced with the fakest and yellow toothed smile Gavin had seen all day.

"Officer! What can I do for you tonight?" The owner waddled over to take Sue's place in front of the bar. Ignoring the man for a moment Gavin peered into his beer before taking a long refreshing sip. Afterwards he finally looked up to make eye contact with the sweaty man.

"You had two employees that were reported missing last week, right?" This made the man puff on his cigar a few more times before patting it out onto the top of the bar and nodding.

"Yeah, fucking androids, bastards come in here begging me for jobs and then after only a few months decided to dip out one day and never come back. I didn't report them if that's what you're asking. A friend of theirs stopped in late on the day the bailed on opening up." He waved his hand around as he spoke. "Came in here asking all kinds of questions about if I'd seen them or heard from them since the night before. Made a hell of a scene and I had to throw her out. Fucking robots are unreliable as hell ever since they passed the new laws. I definitely learned my lesson hiring the pair."

Gavin nodded in agreement continuing to nurse his beer. "Ya don't have to tell me about. But did you? Hear from them the night before or day after?"

The man shook his head and laughed. "You kidding me? Those fuckers better hope I never do, they took off without even properly closing the bar up. I come in the next afternoon to check on the bar and the door is wide open, I've got a bunch of alcohol missing, place is only half wiped down, money is missing out of the registers one was just left the hell open, and a goddamn cat crawling around in the back. They took off the night before and didn't even bother to close the door. I'm out a couple grand because of those metallic freaks!" He was all but shouting now, his hand pointing around to different areas of the bar as he spoke. "The only job those assholes actually finished doing was taking out the trash. If I get my hands on either of them they're gonna wish they hadn't survived the stupid rebellion."

Gavin's ears had perked up at the trash comment, had the assailant attacked one of them when they were taking out the trash? But what about the second worker? Did he really take down two androids by himself? Taking another sip of his beer he contemplated how possible that would be, Connor had taken him, a cop, down in just one punch. He wasn't saying he was some big tough unbeatable force to be reckoned with, but he was a guy who had been through the ringer several times and had enough bar fights under his belt to admit being taken down with one hit wasn't something to scoff at. Some of them at least seemed to have above average strength. The owner was rambling on in front of him about all the bullshit they had put his poor ass through and Gavin was getting tired of it. "Well you won't have to worry about hunting them down anymore. We-"

The bastard cut him off. "Did those pricks get mbusted for screwing someone else over? Cuz I did file a police report against them, those two owe me more than an arm and a leg for the bullshit they've put me through. And I-"

Finishing off his beer Gavin sat it down on the bar a bit too hard. "Well it looks like they already left you an arm, if the one we found out back in your dumpster is anything to go by," Now with that comment the owners yap finally shut, face turning pale.

"Y-you found what out back!? Whoa, listen man-" The man had leaned over the bar so far his gut was being pinched, hands slapped down on either side of Gavin forcing the detective to lean back. "I didn't have anything to do with that! Okay? I may be a little angry over my bar being robbed, but, but not enough to goddamn dismember someone! Even one of those fucking robots!" The guy was panicking and somehow sweating even more than before, his proximity ticking Gavin off.

"Back off Buddy!" He couldn't help but bark and the man obediently removed himself and backed into the liquor cabinet behind him. "I'm doubtful a pig like you could've taken down two androids by himself and I imagine you're both too cheap to pay someone else to, and not dumb enough to keep running your mouth about them or file a police report if you had. But what I do know is that you are going to clear out your drunks and give my men full access to your building because it's now considered a crime scene. Capiche? "

To his credit the man actually seemed like he might argue for a moment but whatever sense the man had left must've convinced him otherwise. "O-Of course, officer. Whatever you need, just let-"

"Gimme another beer," Gavin tapped on the counter and leaned back on the bar stool. "And its detective Reed. Not officer." The bar owner nodded rapidly, motioned for his bartender to go grab it before hollering. "You heard the offic- the detective! Everyone get the fuck outta here."

What patrons remained didn't put up much fight just grumbled and bitched on their way out. With the background chatter now gone the only sound left was the low buzz of the refrigerators and shitty music playing softly on the overhead speakers. Gavin let out a sigh of relief when his second beer was slid across the bar to him. Just what he needed, some peace, quiet, and a cold beer to help him relax until he could leave this shithole.

The old bartender returned and leaned back against the cabinet across from him, a cigarette in her hand. "They weren't as bad as the boss says, ya know." Taking a sip he raised his eyebrows at her to continue. "I mean I sure as shit aint a fan of these fancy old robots either but, they seemed like half decent kids. When they were here they were on time, never left any messes for me to clean up if I opened the next morning, heck they were even great to use to get rowdy drunks out of here. At least the one was."

Putting down his beer he crossed his arms over the bar. "What do ya mean, when you say, one of them was?" She puffed on her cigarette for a moment and looked up to the ceiling before blowing out the smoke in a long exhale. He could tell she was trying to figure out how exactly to say whatever it was. A beat passed before she took one more drag and looked down at him, her own arm coming to cross herself.

"Well Evan, he was a bit...damaged I guess the word would be. Not sure if you can consider them disabled or handicapped. The kid had a hell of a limp and apparently some hearing damage. They had said it was from the original riots that had broken out, and that he just hadn't had the money to pay for any repairs or replacement parts or whatever, It was weird. Just seemed to make them seem more...normal, ya know?" She shrugged and patted her cigarette out in an ashtray she kept behind the counter. "Matt only had a minor problem with his one hand, thing couldn't make a proper grip on things but overall he had no problems while working, outside of the rare dropped glass or beer when someone put something in his wrong hand. Still, can't believe you found an arm out back in the dumpster." She was shaking her head a bit and looking to the floor. "Even if they were just a pair of bots, no one deserves to be left to rot out with the trash."

Despite his own reservations against androids Gavin knew deep down he had to agree with her. Maybe it was because of how human they looked but seeing the pictures of Thomas and Al, and then now that Bri's body in person just strewn out under trash in a dumpster really irked him. It brought back the same disgusted feelings he had whenever he had seen a hooker or poor sap left to rot in them as well. He couldn't imagine just tossing another person out with the garbage like some old chinese or a broken appliance. Let alone this man who had shoved two still alive androids into these dumpsters. Slamming the lid closed on them in hopes they would either bleed out or get crushed alive in the back of some garbage truck. He felt so conflicted with himself over whether to allow himself to feel sympathy for them. "Do you remember anything funny happening the next day? Outside of the whole cleanup process and your boss' incessant bitching I imagine."

Sue tapped her fingers along her own crossed arms as she thought back. "Not really…. hmm… well actually… now that you mention it. That damn garbage man. I swear he is always late every damn week, but that day when I had gone out to toss some of the broken glass and all, I remember being surprised to see the can mostly empty, there was what looked like a bag that had tore and spilled out into the can," She waved her hand dismissively. "But I remember coming in and bitching to the boss about how that damn bastard was late every day except the one we would've appreciated if he had been. Coulda asked him to just take the few broken chairs with him that day. Other than that, and some pissed off regulars who couldn't understand why we were out of their precious drinks, it was a relatively regular night."

Now that actually made Gavin pause mid sip, what were the chances that the morning after two androids had been dumped in a dumpster the always late garbage man is early? Could the dumpster dumpings have nothing to do with the killers feelings about the androids at all and merely just be a temporary dumping ground before he could swing by the next morning to drive off with not only the vic but also his evidence? Shit he had to go run this by plastic outside and maybe get him to find out if any of these businesses used the same garbage removal service.

Gavin lifted up his mostly finished beer to judge how much was left before just tossing it back and finishing it in one go. Plopping the bottle back down he tossed a twenty on the bar towards Sue. "Thanks, keep the change." She puffed on her new cigarette one more time before leaning forward to snag the bill and his two empty bottles. "Careful out there toots."

Once on his feet he finally started to feel the beginning of a nice warm buzz, two beers wouldn't get him tipsy let alone drunk, but they at least helped relax him a little. He gave her a small wave over his shoulder as he opened up the door, the rain outside had picked up once more and it looked like he made perfect time as there were several squad cars already parked and a forensic van pulling up. Taking a step out onto the stoop he watched some officers scuttle around setting up the electronic crime scene tape, the cold rain felt good on his warm skin.

"Detective! You want us to secure the inside too?" A stray cop called over to him and he finally started walking down and off the stoop. "Yeah, going by what the owner said it's looking like the inside is a crime scene too. I doubt we'll have much luck forensic wise but better off doing a full sweep just in case." The officer nodded and gave out orders to the rest of the team. Gavin saw Connor standing at the entrance to the alley, easy to make out in a the swarm of people by the light blue light emanating from his small LED, the android was putting the arm into an evidence bag held by a squeamish looking officer. Sue's description of Matt's bum hand came to mind so he headed straight over to the pair, lifting up his jacket over his head to keep himself from getting totally drenched.

"Hey plastic, did you find anything wrong with that arm? The hand specifically." Connor's gaze snapped up to meet his and as he grew closer Gavin finally noticed first how quickly the robots LED changed to yellow upon seeing him and just how soaked the android looked. Had the idiot just stood out front of the alley this whole time? Surely he could have waited farther in under the overhang from the balcony.

"Ah! Detective, actually now that you mention it yes. There was significant damage to several of the joints in it, but by the wear on them I'm almost certain the original damage was caused long before dismemberment. What makes you ask?" He had actually cocked his head slightly to the side and looked surprised that he had known that meaning it most likely wasn't mentioned on Matt's description for his missing report. Gavin had to admit he felt a tad smug knowing something the androids super computer brain hadn't.

"Well that means our arm here belongs to our one missing android Matt. Bartender told me about his hand inside. Our other vic had a bad leg and a hearing problem. They both apparently got their injuries sometime last year. That would explain how our suspect took them both out in one night by himself." Connor's eyebrows shot up.

"If he had separated them it's entirely possible, did they have any other information we can use?" Gavin nodded and motioned for the android to follow him into the alley to stand under the overhang to get out of the rain. It was starting to pick up even more. Once they were underneath Gavin pulled his jacket back on properly and shook out his hair. The damn wind blowing had made his attempt to shield himself practically pointless.

"So from what the owner says, the two vics closed up the bar the night before they were reported missing. He came in the next afternoon and found the door to the bar wide open and the place ransacked. Said they hadn't finished cleaning up or closing out the bar before they apparently took off. But get this," He playfully tapped the android in the stomach. "The one thing they did finish doing was taking all the garbage out."

Connor gave him a somewhat puzzled look once more. "Well we already knew the attack most likely happened out her just like all the previous." He didn't get what Gavin was getting at so the brunette rolled his eyes.

"No shit sherlock, but what that does tell us is that he didn't wait for them to finish up closing completely. And I know you've never worked a job before but when I worked part-time as a waiter in highschool, we sure as shit didn't need two people to take out the garbage at a time. So what I'm thinking is Matt might've came out to toss the garbage and gotten jumped from behind. Now yeah Evan is right inside the bar but,"The detective tapped his ear, "The kid has a bum ear so with that stupid bar music playing and a door between them I doubt he could've heard anything. So our killer takes out Matt, maybe he shoves him in the dumpster first, maybe he waits, no idea, but after he's gotten through with Matt I'm willing to bet he sneaks into the bar and with Evan's bad leg and hearing? Well he didn't stand a chance. If you can find any traces of blue blood inside the bar that will seal the deal for me." Gavin was feeling a tad giddy, maybe it was from the two beers, maybe it was from finally having some kinda lead with the garbage man thing, he couldn't tell. "And, we might even have a lead."

Connor was listening intently to him now. "Sue the bartender says that the garbage man was early to grab the garbage that morning, apparently every other week he's been late, now I know it sounds like a coincidence but-" Connor cut him off but the slight buzz he had kept him from getting mad.

"Thomas' attack didn't take place the night before garbage pickup, however after running a quick check it looks like his business actually employs a different trash removal service then here at the bar. The Eden Club does not, both this bar, the first attacks business, and the club all go through Miller & Co's Detroit Waste Disposal Services. Now if the Eden Club is due for a garbage pick up tomorrow and your theory is correct then-"

The realization finally hit Gavin. "Then our killer is going to show up tomorrow morning at The Eden." Holy shit, this shot in the dark might have actually given them a chance to snag the killer. "I mean we gotta go stake out the Eden Club tonight then, If we're lucky this guy will stick to his work schedule despite her body already being found. He can't risk avoiding the place because that might draw attention so soon after a murder takes place there." Gavin was getting pumped up now. Connor was smiling at him and in his current state he couldn't help but smile back. "Let's get inside and check inside with forensics, use your scanner eyes or whatever to see if there is any blue blood splattered around.

"Of course! You lead the way." Connor was quick to follow behind him towards the front of the bar and Gavin felt like his night was finally picking up despite all the bullshit earlier and this god awful rain. Dashing up the steps and inside the warmth of the bar made Gavin finally realize how cold outside it actually was with all this rain. The warmth he had felt from those two beers was finally starting to fade, screw the damn rain for sobering him up too soon. Spotting Sue standing off to the side next to the bar owner Gavin motioned for Connor to follow him over to them.

"Ya'll got any towels around this place?"The old woman gave him and Connor each a disinterested look before heading behind the counter and returning with two small bar towels. Gavin grunted in disappointment but supposed they would have to make things work and that beggars couldn't be choosers. Especially in this shit hole, at least they looked clean. He handed one off to Connor and then began drying his face and hair as best as he could.

While rubbing the towel into his hair he noticed the android standing there, just holding the towel and not making any move to dry himself. Water droplets continued to sparsely roll down his face every now and again. It ticked him off slightly, was the damn machine water damaged already? "You gonna dry yourself off a bit or what plastic?"

"Oh!" The android quietly exclaimed as if just now realizing that was why the detective had handed him the hand towel. "Thank you!" And then it seemed to copy Gavin's actions almost perfectly. Down to the way he leaned over slightly to rub his hair dry. A goofy smile plastered on its face the whole time, usually perfect hair now slightly messed up. For some reason it made Gavin's cheeks flush slightly and irritated him.

"Well we don't have all day, get a move on."He motioned to the rest of the bar and continued drying his own hair. Gaze settling on the forensic workers that were bustling about and trying to quarantine off zones to start collecting evidence. They would probably be here all night with all the fingerprints and bodily fluids he was sure they would find all over the bar. He just wanted confirmation from Connor that there was also splatter somewhere in the bar before he left, in case the chief questioned why he had tied up yet another team for several hours. Connor could at least apparently just see those things without needing any tools. Which in itself was both interesting and intimidating. If the revolution hadn't happened and Cyber Life had begun releasing tons of models like Connor he would no doubt be quickly out of a job, along with a lot of his fellow officers as well. It was hard to compete with a machine that supposedly had a whole miniature forensics lab in its mouth, and built in black light eyes.

"I've got some traces of blue blood over here, looks like the floors have been mopped, so I can't be sure how much." Connor was crouching by behind the bar where the register was, noting that if one was in the register they would have their back to the side door, leading out into the alleyway. Meaning the killer could have easily snuck in while Evan was cashing out the register.

"What does that mean?"The owner grabbed his arm and looked anxious. Gavin yanked it out of his grasp before answering. "It means we found out what happened to your other missing android. Looks like you're gonna have to cut your losses on all that stolen merchandise."

"Is that fucking robot licking my floor?"Gavin sighed and rubbed at his temples. Maybe he spoke too soon about the night looking up. "Connor!" He yelled which got the androids attention. "Jesus, Leave some evidence for the forensic team to collect, we gotta get a move on to grab some supplies for tonight." He was starting to feel gross in his wet clothes and the stink of the bar was getting to him, he needed to go back to his apartment and change before they settled in to their stakeout. The uni's and forensic's could handle this without them, and he had a feeling the owner was going to get progressively more bitchy and angry while the night wore on.


	5. Chapter 5

"Connor!" Hearing detective Reed yell out his name made Connor snap his head up so fast he nearly hit it off the countertop. It was such a surprise to him that he almost missed what was said next. "Jesus, Leave some evidence for the forensic team to collect, we gotta get a move on to grab some supplies for tonight." The brunette looked annoyed as he tossed the towel ontop a nearby table and started towards the door.

Standing up Connor quickly walked over to the bar owner, producing yet another one of his cards Hank had made for him. It contained his full name and number along with several other important numbers including the DPD's anonymous tip line. He caught the discomfort he caused by approaching the pair, the heavy mans eyes glancing over at his LED every so often. The reaction was a common one, it had been his choice to keep the useless identifier despite the issues it was prone to cause. He didn't want their to be any question about what he was and that he was an android not only working for the DPD but also an official detective for them as well. He wasn't ashamed of who he was and didn't want his brethren to feel like they needed to discard their identity as different to obtain such a position.

Making sure to also give a card to the bartender, Connor headed towards the exit to follow detective Reed. Upon opening the door however he felt the need to pause as his newer programming kicked in making his core body temperature start to drop. The rain had finally stopped but he still felt a simulated chill run up his back and instinctively hugged his suit jacket closer to himself. It was invigorating to feel the discomfort that came with being wet and in the cold, until he imagined how the detective must also be feeling the same way as him. Unlike him however the detective could actually become sick from such weather, which spurred him to walk quicker towards the vehicle. Smoke trailed out of the exhaust pipe and he noted that the detective had probably already turned it on to try warm himself.

Opening the car door he was greeted by an annoyed voice. "Christ, took you long enough, get the hell in here and stop letting all the heat out." With the door open he could feel the warmth pouring out of the car just as Reed as said so he quickly slid inside and pulled the door closed. While the small hand towel had helped them both dry of their faces some he could see how the detectives jeans and front of his shirt were just as soaked as his clothes were. His eyes trailed up to the detectives hair, inside the bar when he had first watched the man dry it off it had stuck out to him just how different he looked with it down and messy. He had once again found himself mentally screenshotting the moment to store away, still unable to decipher just why he wanted to look back at these moments but decided it was probably a stray part of his previous cyber life programming from before, similar to the one that encouraged him to seek out everything he could about Hank when they first became partners.

The detective started stripping off his leather jacket once the car began moving, as if he had forgotten how wet he was his system once again gave him a chill. So he decided to follow the detectives direction and begun taking off his own suit jacket and folding it neatly. His shirt underneath it was soaked as well, perhaps with his new programming he should take Hank's advice and invest in a proper coat with how the weather is becoming chillier. While pondering this he began rolling up his wet sleeves to at least allow his forearms to dry under the hot air coming from the cars heaters.

"I thought you robots weren't affected by the elements," Reed scoffed to his left, and Connor tilted his head and stared at him while he continued rolling up his sleeves.

"We weren't originally programmed to, outside of the obvious extreme weather situations which can damage our components, for most of the ability to feel temperature wasn't deemed necessary. My model specifically had any trace of those programs expunged in the early prototypes as they served no function to assisting me with accomplishing my set tasks. Since deviating I personally had myself upgraded with the proper programs and modules so I could experience such things."

The detective rolled his eyes and lifted up his shirt to try and squeeze out some of the excess water onto the car floor. "I'd give anything not to have to deal with being so fucking cold right now, can't believe your dumbass chose to feel like this."He was grumbling mostly too himself but Connor ignored him, eyes latching onto the detective's stomach. He could see the soft outlines of lean muscle and a few small scattered scars whos paleness stuck out so sharply against the rest of his tanned skin. One in particular caught his eye with how much larger and more jagged looking it was compared to the others. Immediately an incident report was brought to the forefront of his mind.

Report # 09-941

Date 8/23/2035

7:23pm

Detective Gavin Reed attempted to apprehend suspect after pulling over suspect for failing to signal, once stopped suspect became increasingly hostile and made it apparent he was not in possession of a current active driver's license. Due to suspects erratic speech patterns and actions Detective Reed believed him to be under the influence of an illegal substance. Upon requesting once more for the suspect to exit the vehicle he was caught off guard by the suspect suddenly swinging open the driver side door, knocking the detective back before brandishing a knife and plunging it into the detectives lower right abdominal area, suspect then proceeeded to-

"Plastic, what the fuck are you looking at?" Confused, Connor pulled down the report and looked up at the brunette, once again his cheeks had become flushed. He was struggling to remember if the detectives face always got so red when he was angry, or if perhaps he was feeling under the weather.

"Your scar...the contrast of it against the rest of your skin is...:" He took a moment to search for a word that would best describe why he had been so enthralled. "It's striking. I've only ever seen a few of Hank's in passing, but even then they almost fade into his skin tone. I apologize if my staring alarmed you, I was reading the incident report where-"

"Where some jackass strung out of his mind on Red ice stabbed me, not exactly the most exciting of battle wound stories." Reed rubbed at his face cheeks still a harsh red and stayed like that for a moment, before leaning back to hike his shirt up once more and show Connor the wound. His hand tracing along it. "Fucking prick jabbed me with some kind of shark knife or whatever, its one side was jagged all to hell and tore me up when he ripped it back out. Hurt like a bitch and at the time I remember thinking the guy was a total fucking idiot for stabbing a cop over an expired license. After we hauled him in his cat was searched and several pounds of red ice were discovered, was a drug mule or something. Made a bit more sense after finding that out."

"How badly did it hurt?" Connor's eyes raked over the scar more closely now that he had been given access to it. Like Reed had said the edges on my side were more jagged than the other, as if the knife had been twisted when it was pulled out. His fingertips buzzed and he felt the desire to reach out and touch the skin, to feel how much difference there was, but he restrained himself knowing how upset the man had gotten over even necessary touching from him.

Reed leaned his head back against the headrest and seemed to take a moment to try and think about how to describe it to Connor. The androids eyes trailed up to gaze upon the detectives outstretched neck next, the skin there was tan as well and he could spot the tiniest of scars just below the mans chin. From Reed's personality alone it wasn't surprising to Connor that he would be covered in minor scars. It was uncommon for the detective to make it a full two weeks without coming into the station with out bloody lip or black eye. "It was like a burning feeling. Like if someone had taken a hot iron and jabbed it into my stomach, almost reminded me of the time I'd been shot actually," Connor's hearing perked up at that, and her briefly brought the incident report forward. It was dated 5 years ago and indicated the detective had taken a bullet to the right shoulder during a raid. "It fucking sucks is the easiest way to describe it. You should consider yourself lucky that you can probably just opt out of feeling something as shitty."

Once more the androids eyes were drawn to the detectives stomach as he began tugging his shirt back down to recover it. Trailing past the wound his eyes found themselves following the V of the mans hips to where they disappeared below the wet jeans he was wearing before also being covered back up by the detectives gray shirt. Connor was suddenly overcome with the strange urge to pull the fabric back up once more and examine the mans flesh for more imperfections. Thankfully before he could foolishly act upon his newfound emotions they arrived at their destination. For once he was the first to exit the car, much to his surprise they were neither at Eden Club or the Department, but outside a somewhat dilapidated apartment building.

The rain had begun to lightly drizzle by now, the forecast reporting scattered showers until 2pm tomorrow afternoon. "Shit,"Looking over his shoulder he saw detective Reed exit the vehicle and once again use his jacket as a makeshift umbrella. "I guess you are just gonna have to just come in with me." He was grumbling as he quickly walked past Connor and up the broken concrete steps and pull open the door, stopping only to look back at him and yell. "Well are you fucking coming or what plastic?"

"Oh..of course."Connor felt a bit dumb just standing there watching the detective, he would need to work on being less distracted. Once inside he failed at that once more by taking in the state of the building, while the outside was certainly very run down in appearance the inside wasn't nearly as bad. They rounded a corner that opened up to a stairwell and over only one flight they came to a door halfway down the hall. Connor took note of the apartment number, 6B, in case there was ever a need to return. The man hesitated outside his door, sighing as he held the knob key still inside. "Okay, I'm gonna lay some ground rules here plastic. You better feel grateful about this, only Tina has been over before. What you see in my apartment is nobody's goddamn business, understand? Don't go running back to Anderson to tell him about my shit. And don't fucking touch anything."

"Got it, no touching or talking about it." Connor agreed, his interest was piqued now. Did the detective have something he wanted to hide from his coworkers? Possibilities started racing through the androids mind. A wife? 0% Not likely, the detective wore no band nor was there any spouse on record. Child? 2% no known birth records in Detroit naming the man as a father. Roommate? 50% Common practice in the city, though income suggests it would be unnecessary.

"Jeez don't say it like that, what the hell is wrong with you." Reed's disgust pulled him from his calculations, the door popping open after a rather hard shove. Peering over the detective as the walked inside Connor scanned the room for anything out of the ordinary or evidence of a second inhabitant. Nothing was popping out to him but as he closed the door an insistent brush against his leg drew his attention to the floor. To his surprise it was a cat, a very strange looking one without fur at that. Explaining why he had never seen any cat hair on the detectives clothing. The creature was much smaller than Sumo, maybe only weighed as much as one of the dogs large paws but was very long and limber. It was rubbing itself against him so excitedly he couldn't help but kneel down and cautiously reach a hand out. It was his first time being able to see and touch such a creature in person, any cats he might have seen while walking Sumo would take off as soon as the large lumbering dog grew near. This one didn't hesitate to press its face against Connor's hand, he could feel the tiny edges of its teeth as it drug it face back and forth.

"Oi, Balzac! What the hell, you fucking hate people!" Reed sounded surprised as he glared down at the cat, his jacket now discarded on his couch. The detective ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Fuckin cat took like two weeks to let me pet him, and he still scratches the shit out of me, ungrateful little bastard." He seemed rather irritated with the feline and Connor wasn't sure how to respond. The small creature did seem to have taken a liking to him rather quickly if the way it was now climbing up onto his knee and arm to rub its face against the underside of his neck was any indication. Connor didn't know what to do, he was afraid to move and disturb the critter, but he surely looked foolish with his hands hovering above its fur. Reed must have taken notice because he walked over to them and scooped the cat up. "What have you never seen a cat before? Little ugly fucker." The man was speaking softer now scratching the cats head similar to how he saw Hank itch behind Sumo's ears.

"Actually this is my first time, Hank only has a large dog at home. It looks much different from the ones I've seen in pictures and online." Perhaps it had some kind of feline illness, although the animal did not seem to appear sick at all. His eyes followed it as it hopped out of the detectives arms to gracefully land on the countertop nearby. Mobility seemed healthy as well.

"Freaking Sumo, that isn't a dog its a fucking bear. Can't imagine picking up the craps that thing probably lays. Zac's a hairless alley cat, they're not popular. Wrinkly bastard broke in my house last summer and wouldn't leave." Despite his tone and words Connor could see affection in the detective's eyes and in his actions of following it around the counter to pour some food, free hand stroking down the pets back. "Don't go telling anyone in the department about it though, no ones business what I have waiting at home."

Connor nodded before standing back up and coming over to stand opposite the detective. "No need to worry, I can keep secrets." He flashed the other man a smile, and got a suspicious look in return, then watched as the man's eyes drifted down to look at his shirt. Looking down himself he noted his soaked the article still was, it clung tightly against his chest. The gray button up looking much darker and slick. "I'm probably gonna have to lend you something," Reed sighed leaving the countertop to walk around the corner and down a hall to an open door. Connor followed along stopping just outside of the darkened room, seeing a large unmade bed in the center, blankets laying half on the floor along with a pillow across the room. The detectives bedroom itself was rather unkempt and cluttered, more so than Hank's had been when they first met. Eyes roaming over the room he took note of the knocked over pill bottle on one night stand, a towel hit him in the face and blocked his view. "Dry off with that, you're dripping all over my fucking carpet. Dunno how I got stuck trying to find something your tall ass can wear. I should fucking send Anderson a bill, you think you robot bastards would come equppied with a second set of clothes."

Pulling down the towel Connor watched Reed rifle through his closet cursing to himself under his breath before finding something buried deep in the back and smelling it. "Guess I didn't toss all of it, tch,." Turning around he tossed a wrinkly button up that Connor easily caught. "That's probably as close as you're gonna get to something fitting plastic. You're shit out of luck in the pants department."

Connor couldn't help but feel warm inside from how much Reed had lightened up over the course of the last few hours. Even if the man was sure to deny it if asked, the android could feel his hostility and dislike wearing down slowly. His perception of the short tempered detective was slowly evolving into a fuller picture. He backed out of the doorway to make room for the man and began unbuttoning his shirt, towel draped around his neck. Halfway down he glanced up and saw that the brunette had paused in his search through the bottom of his closet to look over at him. With his back blocking most of the light pooling into the room Connor couldn't quite make out what expression was on the mans face but continued undoing each button, his pace slowing slightly. The final button popped out and he shrugged the wet material down off his shoulders, having to break his gaze down at the smaller man when he pulled his rolled up sleeves free and down to slip off. In the silence of the apartment he heard the detective curse quietly and mumble to himself something that he hadn't picked up, before yanking an article of clothing out stretching back up to stand on his own feet.

Something inside Connor stirred, he once again experienced his thirium pump beginning to beat out of sync. His feet felt glued to the hardwood below him despite a part of him saying he should move and give the detective some privacy, however the other part was curious as to what might happen if he stayed. While contemplating his options the android used the towel to wipe and dry himself off, starting with his neck and making his way down. Reed turned away from him slightly and then reached over his head to pull his shirt off. Connors eyes shot down and followed the hem of it as it revealed more and more skin, he started to feel hot. Like he was burning from the inside out as his gaze jumped around the other man's back seeking out any scars he could make out in the dim lighting. There was a light sheen of water that reflected off the hall light over his shoulder and rolled down parallel to Reed's spine. His back was lean much as he had imagined, skin pulled taut as the detective used a towel to dry his own face and front.

A small round pale patch of skin on his upper shoulder caught his attention, most likely where the exit wound had been from the previously mentioned gunshot. Connor found himself desperately wanting to see what the entry scar looked like as well but his feet remained stuck to the floor. This new heat that was forming inside him was almost scary, without any prompt his mind had started running through outcomes of what might happen if he were to actually step forward and place his hands on the expanse of skin like they itched to do. An error kept making its way to the forefront when he tried to deduce a non hostile reaction, lack of information unable to create scenario, it yelled at him in red. He felt distressed, some part of his new programming wanted him to move and make an action he wasn't even sure of, it made him feel things that he could not decipher. Even his voice felt caught, every part of him was unsure of what to do or how to proceed.

Finally he just walked away, anger was bristling inside him as he let himself into the detectives bathroom, making sure to close the door behind him. Immediately he rushed to the sink and turned on the water, hands gripping the bowl tightly as he finally let out a harsh exhale of air he wasn't aware he was holding.

Everything felt scrambled inside his head, there was a heat thrumming low in his body that scared him. What was happening to him? Why did he feel so wrong? There was one feeling deep inside that he could recognize, he had felt it before when he had seen the betrayal on Hanks face last year in the cyber life building. It had felt so paralyzing back then, and when he had talked to Hank about it after everything was over the man had told him it sounded a lot like he had felt ashamed of himself. Ashamed for everything he had felt he caused, of the pain he was putting Hank through, but why, why was he feeling the lightest trickle of that now?

Looking at himself in the mirror he saw his own LED humming a deep red, cheeks taking on a light red flush, his disheveled appearance matching how he felt inside. He tried to focus on the sound of the water running in the sink, reaching down and splashing some on his face to try and cool himself down. The quickest way for him to feel better was going to be cleaning himself up, he ran his hands through his hair working it back into its usual neat style.

Shaking out the dress shirt Reed had handed him he pulled it on and started buttoning it up, the fit was a tad loose to his surprise but he would tuck it in to compensate. Once the buttons were done he smoothed down the wrinkles as best as he could and unbuckled his belt, tucking the bottoms of the shirt in all the way around.

Once he was finished primping he stepped back a little and gave himself a quick once over in the mirror. Feeling relieved to see himself in order he finally let himself take in his surroundings, compiling information would also help him to remain calm. The bathroom was small, yet very similar to Hank's with the style of tub/shower. One tooth brush laid haphazardly towards the edge of the back of the sink, along with a tube of toothpaste missing its cap. A hamper sat on the floor next to it half full of dirty clothes. Walking over to take a peek into the shower he found a cluster of mix matched toiletries, including a bottle of cat shampoo that looked much more expensive than the rest. Several harsh knocks on the bathroom door made him jump.

"Ey! Unless your new fucking programs taught you how to piss get the hell out, I don't wanna risk missing this asshole." Reed's voice rung out on the other side of the door, Connor gave himself one last look in the mirror before tugging the door open just as Reed began to knock once more. "It's a stakeout not a fucking da-"

The detective had finished changing, he was now in jeans and a large hoodie, hair dry and still sticking up all over the place, he glared at Connor when the door opened and nearly made him stumble. The Android quickly noted how when Reed looked down at his shirt a flicker of pain and disgust seemed to flicker across his features, "Took you fucking long enough."

The look gave Connor pause his fingers drifted down to touch the shirt wondering what could have garnered such a reaction. While making his way down the hall he started to piece some of it together, realizing the shirt must have belonged to someone other than the detective going off of the size and his comments. Perhaps an ex? The idea of Reed being homosexual had never even crossed his mind before then, though he couldn't rule it out solely based on the mans lack of stereotypical traits or likes. Could that be a part of what the detective was worried he would find out and reveal? Keeping it secret seemed rather strange with how accepting the world was currently, even just 3 months ago Detroit had celebrated it with a parade. Which Hank said was a yearly event all over the states. So was there another reason he kept his sexuality private?

A small meow drew the android from his thoughts and looking down he saw Reed's cat circling his feet again. The feline seemed to be very affectionate. "Fucking cat's a traitor." Reed cursed while digging around in a closet by the door. Connor smiled slightly, reaching down to scratch behind the cats ear like he had seen its owner do earlier. A light purr followed the cat stretching its body up to meet his hand more easily. Not wanting to remain in an uncomfortable silence Connor picked up cat and carried over to where the detective stood. "Are you a fan of Honoré de Balzac?"

The brunette popped his head out of the closet and gave him a confused look. "Honoré who?"

"Honoré de Balzac, a famous French novelist and playwright, I assumed that you named your cat after him." Said cat was once again rubbing its head against Connors chin, a low purr rumbling through its whole body. He was taken off guard when the detective suddenly broke out into laughter, so hard tears formed in the corner of his eyes. "Is that not why? What's so fun-"

"I named him that because the little hairless bastard looked like a nutsack when I found him in my house." Reed was laughing hard now, like he found it to be the funniest thing in the world. "A French writer, ha, that little dick wishes." His smile and laughter felt infectious after Connors earlier panic. He had never seen detective Reed look so pleased with himself, there was an occasional smirk and chuckle at work when he had done something to inconvenience Hank or himself but Connor had never seen the man smile so wide. His first thought was how different and younger it made the man look, and his second was how much he wanted to see the same face again and again.

Wiping a tear from his eyes Reed reached out to ruffle the cats ears and chuckle. "Man that's a good one, I gotta tell Tina about that. You fucking robots sure can be oblivious. Balzac, ha gotta use that at the groomers too." They stood so close now that Connor could see the fine edges of the scar slashed across the detectives nose. There was no record of any incident that could relate to it in the departments database, it's origin a mystery. Gray eyes met his and like that the detectives smile faded, returning to his usual scowl before backing up and grabbing a jacket out of the closet and shoving it into his arms, Balzac hopping out and skittering away. "You can borrow this, it's gonna be a long ass night and we won't be keeping the car running."

Pulling it on Connor found that it fit a bit short but was thankful nonetheless. He said so and the detective brushed him off, with a casual "whatever" picking up a duffle bag sat on the floor by the door. He tossed that at the android as well ,opening the door. "Supplies. Now let's get a move on plastic."

Reed had to shoo his cat back into the apartment twice before closing the door, afterwards they had a silent walk down the staircase and outside. Both putting their hoods back down once they entered the car. Taking note of the time on the front panel Connor thought it might be best to inform Hank he wouldn't be home that night and that everything was okay.

The older man was quick to reply with an "ok, need bckup just txt" Reed seemed to have a similar train of that as the car started moving.

"Don't forget to tell Anderson what we're doing. Last thing I need is that prick showing up at my place tomorrow morning angry I kept his precious android out all night."

"I did a moment ago, he told me that if we needed any back up just to text him." Reed gave him a strange look before saying "oh yeah, fucking built in text app or whatever. Tch, like I'll need that old mans help anyway, I don't even need yours." His statement made Connors eyes flash down to where the man's stabbing scar was, hidden under two layers of clothing now. During both incidents, the stabbing and shooting, the detective was alone. The day of the stabbing he was supposed to be patrolling with Miller but for unlisted reasons the two weren't together during the arrest, and on the day of the shooting he had separated from his fellow officers early on in the raid. While he would agree that the detective was more than capable of holding his own in most situations he would also agree it would be better for him to accept help than not. Connor himself was slightly intimidated by the killer they were hunting down, it had crossed his mind several times that a man with his level of aggression and no worry about the possibility of being caught would be extremely dangerous if cornered. Him having taken down several androids seemingly single handedly as well wasn't something to scoff at. While he had of course been built for combative situations many other androids were also made with defensive protocols with reasons as simple as fighting of intruders, along with above average strength.

Deep down he surmised that if they did end up in an altercation with the suspect once his LED was spotted the man was sure to focus most of his aggression on him. Leaving Reed open to request backup or tase the killer and subdue him, whichever became necessary in the situation. With the data he currently had, he found their probability of successful apprehension to be around 80%. If their plan to surprise the man worked, if at any point before he exited the truck the suspect caught on to their presence that would drastically change the outcome. Connor was less worried about a car chase ensuing then the man using the heavy duty vehicle to ram their smaller car, his psychological profile of the criminal leaning more towards rash acts of violence than calculated planning. One thing he knew for sure was his secondary objective during the arrest, to protect Detective Reed.


	6. Chapter 6

Scars were ugly, lasted forever. Growing up his mother would always remind him of this anytime he scraped his knee and picked at the scab or when he was caught doing something stupidly dangerous. "You better hope that doesn't scar," his first girlfriend in high school had said when she saw the bandage across nose one day in school. Of course it had, the cut had been deep and taken several stitches to close. She broke up with him only a few months later, saying she just couldn't look at him with that ugly thing on his face. While he had never been a good looking kid, at least before the scar girls would flirt with him, after it he got pitiful looks or revulsion. This trend continued through his life as he went through the academy and started out as a cop. His own reckless behavior stacking the tiny ones up there were a lot of times that after he had brought someone home for a one night stand he saw the same damn looks pass over their faces when his shirt was removed. Be it some drunk chick or even a flirty guy from the bar, every time they never ceased to be turned off by how marred his skin had become over the years.

It made him feel disgusting, like a freak, like no one would ever be able to love him and his damaged body. Maybe that was a large part of why he had hated androids so much, their skin always perfect, and unblemished except in attractive ways, even though Thomas had some scars from his attack they were easily fixable. One trip to cyberlife and for a price they would be covered back over with nice new artificial skin. Gavin didn't have that option. There was no sensible or cheap way to fix his and even if he shelled out the money for some ridiculous treatment the results weren't guaranteed especially with how deep and jagged a lot of his were. No he was stuck with his imperfections, he could cover them as best as he could, hide himself away from others but they were still there.

Gavin did find some solace though, his fellow officers weren't one to shy away, most of them wearing theirs like badges of honor. Bragging how their wives thought they were so sexy and heroic, sure he had mused, it was easy to look past them when you already had some foundation of a relationship before. Not so easy to start one with them. Maybe his mom was right when she had sobbed right after seeing the gash in his face that hot summer day. "Oh gavy, oh your face, baby no, oh god Robert what have you done, his beautiful face you, oh god how could you ruin it like this?" She had looked so hurt and angry at his father. Not because he had beat him up but because he had made his beautiful son so ugly. Maybe his face was ruined, maybe he was ruined. But why was this stupid robot not disgusted? At first when he had caught the android staring in the car that familiar tightness and anger had rose up in his chest. Fully expecting that familiar old look of pity to fill its expression but instead the android had looked at them with awe, and confusion when Gavin had snapped at him.

The explanation given for his staring only furthered to make his cheeks flush harder, uncertainty bubbling up in his chest as he explained how exactly he had gotten stabbed. Fingers pulling at the hem of his shirt unsure of what to do, Connor had continued glancing down to where he had covered back up as he cut him off, explaining it was just some stupid scar. After some deliberation though he scrubbed at his cheeks trying to force the burning to go away before deciding to gauge the bots reaction by exposing himself once more. His heart had hammered in his chest while he explained in further detail what lead up to the incident. Brown eyes had roved over the skin of his stomach, that stupid look of awe and another mysterious emotion returning to the androids face. He could see the bots fingers move and then clench into fists several times over the course of him speaking and a darker part of him wondered if he should take the androids hand and let him feel how rough his skin felt.

The thought was quickly discarded as an aftereffect of the two earlier beers and the lack of sex he'd been having the last year. Gavin knew the last thing he'd ever want was some plastic freaks hands on him like that, let alone Hank's pet. He smacked his head back against the headrest lightly, Connor asked him how it felt, but not in a, you poor thing, kind of way, more of a breathless question. His face was so hot he thought he might pass out at that point, and the fucking robot was apparently oblivious to how flustered he was making the detective feel. He struggled to answer as he covered himself back up, inside feeling so many conflicted emotions. Outside his apartment door the android had innocently agreed to mind his business by saying "Got it. No touching or talking about it." And Gavin's pleasure starved brain just had to take it the wrong way, disgusting himself. It brought that flush back to his cheeks after only finally fading.

"Jeeze don't say it like that, what the hell is wrong with you?" The feeling of uncertainty in his chest continued to fester once they were inside his apartment, he hated having the Android there, curious eyes roaming all over his private space probably documenting and analyzing every little thing.

Maybe the way he let his dirty dishes pile up in the sink broadcasted how out of control his whole life was or some other psychological bullshit. He just knew from what Anderson had complained about, when the thing first joined the department that it was seeking out things to better understand what kind of person Gavin was. He was shocked to see how quickly Zac had taken to the robot, running right up to it and begging for attention. Even when Tina was over the cat usually stuck close to Gavin's side, always following him around the apartment like a shadow. Sometimes it was hard to believe that almost two years ago the little bastard had been practically feral, hissing and swiping at him from inside the bathroom. The cat had snuck in through a window Gavin had left open and then refused to leave he spent days trying to get it out. It scratched and bit at him anytime he got close or tried to shoo it out of the house. Eventually after about a week of just tossing scraps at it so it wouldn't starve the thing had slunk out of the bathroom and crawled up on his lap one evening. There was a gun shaking in his hand that he could barely see throughout the flood of tears streaming down his face, he was a mess, ready to end it all when that ugly hairless bastard had finally decided to warm up to him.

Maybe the creature had known its source of food was about to end or who knows maybe it had taken pity on him and purposefully tried to calm him down. In that moment though he felt less alone, like the cat was trying to tell him "hey don't leave my ugly ass behind" and remind him that he wasn't all by himself in his apartment. From that moment on they became inseparable while home, it was like seeing a different cat. Hisses and angry swats were replaced with soft purring and cuddling, scraps turned into expensive organic cat food, and his free time from work became filled with trips to the pet store to look for things to keep the cat busy while he was at work.

All of that for it to ignore him when he came home tonight and run up to that stupid android. He felt betrayed by the damn cat. "Oi, Balzac! What the hell, you fucking hate people!" Glaring he tossed his jacket onto the couch and ran a hand through his wet hair, a sigh falling from his lips. "Fuckin cat took like two weeks to let me pet him, and he still scratches the shit out of me, ungrateful little bastard." What, was the robot some kind of Disney princess? Did they come with built in catnip and dog treats to keep animals content around them? The damn little brat was rubbing itself all up on the androids legs, and when the bot got down on one knee to look closer the cat actually climbed up to rub its face against his neck. A part of him found it amusing however that the Android apparently had no idea what to do, hands hovering nervously around the cats slender body.

"What have you never seen a cat before?"He walked over and scooped the cat up, scratching it behind its ears and speaking more softly. "Little ugly fucker." He felt like him and the cat made a good pair, both abnormal looking grumpy assholes. The android sounded a bit puzzled when he replied.

"Actually, this is my first time, Hank only has a large dog at home. It," he motioned to the cat. "Looks much different from the ones I've seen in pictures and online." Gavin noticed the concerned look in the bots eyes as it followed the cats form while it jumped from his arms to roam along the counter top. Large dog, that's an understatement the detective mused to himself.

"Freaking Sumo," he remembered the large Saint Bernard Hank had living at home. "That isn't a dog, it's a fucking bear. Can't imagine picking up the craps that thing probably lays."Gavin shook his head and started untying his shoes. "Zac's a hairless alley cat, they're not popular" talk about an understatement, Tina had thought the cat was the ugliest thing she ever saw when she first met it. "Wrinkly bastard broke into my house a few years ago and wouldn't leave." He got up and walked around the kitchen counter to put out some more food for said bastard. Now he wanted to give Gavin some affection. "Don't go telling anyone in the department about it though, no ones business what I have waiting at home"

Connor nodded from his spot still kneeling on the floor before finally getting back up and walking over to join Gavin at the counter. He was flashed a bright smile. "No need to worry, I can keep secrets." Somehow the detective doubted that statement. The Android seemed clueless most of the time, just cuz cyberlife stuffed it full of all that technology didn't mean it wouldn't act like an idiot. Like how it was just standing around soaking wet in his apartment, not a care in the world about how it was dripping all over the place or how ridiculous it looked with that button up clinging to its artificial skin. His own clothes felt gross, sticking to him in the weirdest places and making a chill run up his back. He was gonna need to find himself and give the thing something else to wear.

Sighing Gavin told the robot just that before heading towards his bedroom. Luckily he had just done laundry a few days ago so there were some clean towels on his dresser. Finding a shirt that fit the lanky robot would be a whole other problem entirely. Nevertheless he snatched a towel off the top of his dresser and flung it at the androids who had predictably followed him. "Dry off with that, you're dripping all over my fucking carpet," He could see the small puddle forming from here. "Dunno how I got stuck trying to find something your tall ass can wear. I should fucking send Anderson a bill,"

He was muttering to himself now, hoping the carpet dried on its own while he was gone so he didn't have to worry about harassing Tina for her shampooer again. The floor beneath him was getting soaked as well. "You think you robot bastards would come equipped with a second set of clothes." Mentally he mused about robots in comics who had little compartments all over that would pop open, containing whatever the situation called for in that moment. The image felt much more disturbing when he tried to apply it to a human like android such as Connor, imagining his skin opening up to reveal some secret compartment. Gavin shook his head to try and get rid of the freaky thought and went about rifling through his closet for something he thought the android might fit in. He wasn't one to buy oversized clothes unless they were hoodies or jackets. Reaching around his hand landed on an unfamiliar button up, but upon pulling it out his stomach churned. He thought he had thrown all of that assholes clothing out years ago, just seeing the shirt made him wanna puke. But it was probably the quickest thing he could find on such short notice that would fit the android. It at least smelled clean, had probably went through the wash at some point when Gavin was tired from work and then just tossed into the back of the closet to be forgotten about.

"That's probably as close as you're gonna get to something fitting plastic. You're shit out of luck in the pants department." The android easily caught the shirt when he tossed it, stupid thankful expression on his face. Blissfully unaware of the kind of man who had worn it before him. Just the thought was agitating Gavin, his skin feeling itchy all over. A wave of disgust was rolling over him but he couldn't afford to have a breakdown right now, not with that stupid robot standing in his doorway. Looking over he saw that the thing was getting undressed, just stripping his shirt off right there unabashedly. It made Gavin feel a little jealous, his eyes trailing over soft pale unmarked synthetic skin. Connor was lean, his muscles built up in all the right areas. Something the android didn't even need to work for or maintain, it was unfair.

Their eyes met as the Android was halfway done unbuttoning, Gavin could barely make them or the robots expression out. The slightest of pauses followed before it continued, fingers moving much more slowly. Gavin's heart thrummed in his ears and suddenly he didn't feel right being on his knees on the floor. Standing up he snatched a T-shirt out of the closet and struggled with himself to tell the Android to fuck off. It almost felt intentional, the way it's gaze held him frozen, hands opening the shirt like some kind of strip tease. Was the bastard baiting him? Trying to see how he would react, his mind raced worrying that maybe it was true what Hank had said, that the damn thing could find out everything about you just from a little snooping. Was it trying to gauge his reaction to its body? To see if he was gay? The final button popped and he watched as the android made a movement to slide it off his shoulders, stopping where the sleeves had rolled up. The move wasn't overtly sexual but it made the heat in his face start to travel south, he finally got out a single curse when Connor had looked away to finish removing his sleeves.

Gavin was quick to take his chance to turn around, his back to the android now, one hand coming up to rest against his mouth. He felt sick, his stupid body and brain reacting against his will, that thing behind him was nothing but a machine. A heartless artificial object designed to look and act like everyone else around him it was not something he was going to let himself be attracted too. After they caught that guy tomorrow he was gonna have to go straight to the bar, find someone, someone human, to bring home. It has just been a while is all, he told himself angrily drying his hair with a towel. He needed to get these wet clothes off and into some new ones so they could get the hell out of his apartment and back to the club.

Thinking of the club didn't help him either though, the memory of his earlier encounter taunting him, it was that asshole too that screwed his head up today. Gavin was getting progressively more frustrated with himself, and may have yanked his shirt off a little too roughly to toss it across the floor, the sound of a few threads breaking irritating him more. Picking up his towel he went back to wiping himself off, lingering on the scar above his hip remembering the way Connor's hands had flexed as if wanting to touch it. A surge of anger shot through him and he spun around to curse the bastard out, fully ready to bust his lip a second time that day. The android was gone though, having left when his back was turned like some coward, he felt a pang of rejection deep inside his chest but shook it off. That android really had him all messed up in the head right now.

With his audience gone he had no trouble busying himself with stripping out of his jeans as well, finding a new dry pair in his dresser to pull on and reattach his gun holster to. When he was finished he went out in the hallway, eyes landing on the androids discarded shirt sitting in a wet pile on his hallway floor. He kicked it into his room for now, it wasn't worth worrying about at the moment. He still felt hot and bothered from the awkward tension of what just happened so he tore into the kitchen and pulled a water bottle out of the fridge to drink and hold against his hot cheek. "Fucking android." He muttered to no one in particular. Said machine was nowhere to be seen out here meaning he had to have been in the bathroom. Zac rubbed his face into Gavin's elbow where it had been resting by the sink. The cat was being overly affectionate and it annoyed him. Even the damn cat could tell he was upset.

The next 9 hours stuffed up in a car we're going to be torture, there was no way to avoid talking with the machine. Even it couldn't possibly stay completely silent for that amount of time, nor could he avoid eventually confronting the prick about all the stares and awkward tension that seemed to be brewing between them. He wasn't even sure if the robot knew how the long looks and personal questions came off. He had no idea how Anderson had lasted working with him for as long as he did, let alone got along well enough with him to adopt the bastard. And that old man hated androids as much as he did originally.

Striking, that's how Connor had described his scar. Even just thinking about the word had him feeling flustered. Ugly, weird, disgusting, those were the words he was used to hearing. Compliments weren't something he was used to, let alone one about the most hideous parts of him. He felt like a stupid 12 year old girl standing there in his kitchen pressing his hot face into some water bottle. He was almost 37, and a goddamn man.

It was time to act like it, he decided and tossed the bottle back into the fridge. Slamming it closed, he was storming out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the bathroom when he caught sight of the scar on his bare forearm. It made him stop dead in his tracks, the last thing he needed was to give that android something else to stare it or ask about. It aggravated him so bad he turned around and dug a hoodie out of the closet by the front door. After pulling it on he felt better, and resumed his angry match down the hallway to start banging on the bathroom door.

"Ey! Unless your new fucking programs taught you how to piss get the hell out, I don't wanna risk missing the asshole!" A moment passed with no response, that just pissed him off even more so he started banging again. What the hell was the plastic prick doing in there anyway? Primping like they were going on some date? "It's a stakeout not a goddamn da-"

The door was pulled open almost knocking Gavin off balance and straight into the androids chest, luckily he caught himself. Glaring hard at the plastic prick he hated how much the shirt suited him. Just looking down at it made his insides squirm. "Took you fucking long enough." He didn't want to stare at it anymore or how the stupid android had fixed his hair up so he headed back down the hall deciding to just let his anger simmer a little. They didn't have time to waste in the first place. Stopping only to grab a bag of snacks he kept under the pantry he went back to the front hall closet and dug out a duffle bag, tossing it inside. It was filled with some basic stakeout gear, two pairs of binoculars, couple evidence bags, gloves, and a blanket. It was easier to just buy the shit and keep it all together than waste time gathering it up every time he head to go sit somewhere, which was pretty often since lately Fowler liked to keep him away from the whole dealing with victims aspect of his job as much as he could thanks to his "shitty and disrespectful attitude".

Seeing Connor standing there in that awful shirt reminded him to try and find some kind of jacket to toss at him to wear over it. So he didn't feel like throwing up all night. Jeez he should just go make him put on a different one but then he'd probably have the Android bothering him all night about why. He was such a fucking dumbass sometimes. Gavin sighed when he heard Zac meowing and once more circling the damn robots legs. "Fucking cat's a traitor." He started pulling some jackets out and sizing them up before tossing them back in.

Connor was over there scooping his cat up and scratching him like he'd done it every day of his life. Nothing like someone who had just seen or even touched a cat for the first time just 20 minutes ago. The bot even waltzed over to stand next to him while he rooted through the closet, Balzac happily purring in his arms. "Are you a fan of Honoré de Balzac?"

"Honoré who?" Gavin popped back out of the closet to give the android and incredulous look. He merely received a blank stare back the robot having the gall to look confused as well. Like he hadn't just spouted out some crazy ass different language.

"Honoré de Balzac, a famous French novelist and playwright, I assumed that you named your cat after him." The robot looked dead serious, made even more ridiculous by the way said cat was currently rubbing his head aggressively against his chin, purring loudly to try and get his attention. It was too ridiculous for Gavin and like that he broke down into a fit of laughter. His anger from earlier melting away, the tension from earlier had just snapped like that. Maybe it was because he was having such a long day but it just seemed to be the funniest thing in the whole damn world. "Is that not why? What's so fun-"

"I named him that because the little hairless bastard looked like a nutsack when I found him in my house." Gavin was almost keeled over with how hard he was laughing. He couldn't believe the robot didn't get the joke when he first heard the cats name, is he that clueless? "A French writer, ha, that little dick wishes." The brunette was laughing so much his face hurt, he could just imagine the little hairless bastard with some curly French mustache and a cigarette hanging out of its mouth. The mental image just made it all that much funnier to him. He had to wipe a tear from his eye, reaching out to roughly pet between the cats ears. "Man that's a good one, I gotta tell Tina about that. You fucking robots sure can be oblivious." So much so it is just shocking, didn't they know how to make a program that understood wordplay?. "Balzac the novelist, ha gotta use that at the groomers too."

Gavin's good mood lasted until he looked up, finding Connor staring once unsubtly at his face. He knew right away why, it was like the android couldn't help himself. One peek at his scar in the car and it had already developed into some kind of fetish or something. Could androids have fetishes? Could Connor even? Afterall he was an 'android specially designed by Cyber-life to aid in criminal investigation' or whatever, plastic prick probably didn't even have a dick. Not that he wanted to know either way but, well there'd be no reason to give him one. Right? He was definitely thinking to far into things and needed to just grab a jacket and get going.

Taking one last look into his closet, momentarily questioning just how he had ended up with so many damn coats before finally just grabbing one and tossing it at the android. The impact scared Zac into leaping out of his arms. "You can borrow this, it's gonna be a long ass night and we won't be keeping the car running." He wasn't 100% sure how the androids new 'upgrade' or whatever functioned but at least with a jacket on he could avoid staring at that shirt. Just play the gesture off as ignorance, by the stupid pleased look on the robots face when he thanked him he figured it was alright.

Gavin rolled his eyes and hauled up the duffle bag to toss it at the bot, who easily caught it to his disappointment. "Supplies, now let's get a move on plastic" Was all he answered before opening his door to leave, his foot instinctively shooting out to block Balzac from taking off. He had to repeat the action another two times getting progressively annoyed before the cat finally gave up. He learned his lesson the last time he had let the cat escape, one of his hardest weeks of his life coming home to a completely empty apartment, not knowing what the hell had happened or where his cat was. He wasn't proud of how he had actually started to tear up a little bit when he had found the cat meowing outside his bedroom window on the fire escape. Several pounds lighter and covered in fleas, but thankfully alive and mostly uninjured.

The detective was relieved that the rain had lightened up once more, allowing them to get to the car without being poured on. Eden's club was only a 30 minute drive, glancing at the clock Gavin was relieved to see it was already past 10. Meaning that if the guy was running on a regular schedule he'd probably show up to pick up the trash around 5-6 am. So they wouldn't be stuck waiting too long, 8 hours max. Unless the suspect showed up sooner, which considering he was picking up corpses he would want to arrive before anyone took out the morning garbage. His last stakeout with Anderson had taught him to expect the unexpected, which speaking of the old man. "Don't forget to tell Anderson what we're doing. Last thing I need is that prick showing up at my place tomorrow morning angry I kept his precious android out all night."

Connor was quick to respond, "I did a moment ago, he told me that if we needed any back up just to text him." Gavin looked over and saw no cellphone, confusing him momentarily until he remembered the robot's creepy no hands emailing he did earlier that day. "Oh yeah, fucking built in text app or whatever." The second half of what Connor had said ticked him off a little, he didn't need Anderson to back him up. He had already relied on him once before and didn't want to have to do so again. At least not until he returned the favor, the old man was probably worried about his walking roomba. "Tch, like I'll need that old mans help anyway, I don't even need yours."

It was true, he worked better alone. Dragging a partner around just brought in a whole slew of problems, he needed to be able to focus on arresting his suspect not watching someone else's back. Over the years he's made it better on his own, most people Fowler paired with him could never keep up. They all thought he was too reckless, violent, but then when he ended up saving their ass from some jacked up asshole they weren't complaining about him wanting to fight. He knew about the jokes passed around by older officers, how he was the 'delinquent' of the department. Always starting fights, but that was bullshit, he was always finishing fights. Fowler knew he was good at his job, or he would have canned him long ago. Hell he was surprised with how much shit the captain put up from him, he sure as shit would have fired himself long ago.

Pulling up to the Eden Club Gavin reoriented the car into a parking spot on the far end of the lot behind the club where the alleyway entrance was in view but their vehicle wasn't out of place. It was listed employee parking so there was no reason for the perp to become suspicious. The club was open 24/7 after all, it was the one place cars were always expected to be parked. Once the car came to a complete stop Gavin leaned his seat back slightly and crossed his arms behind his head, gaze scanning the back of the building, it looked as seedy as the front. The back entrance had a smaller less obnoxious sign and several vending machines containing things ranging from drinks to cigarettes. It's sight was a bit of a relief to him as it meant he wouldn't have to go inside or take a walk to grab a drink if need be.

"So…"The androids voice surprised him slightly, glancing over her saw the robot sitting up fingers tapping out some strange rhythm on its thigh. There was a long pause that followed, like it was unsure of what exactly it wanted to say, it dragged on long enough to annoy him a little.

"So?" Gavin repeated, the edge of irritation leaking into his voice. He hated regular small talk, if this was as good as the Android was going to get at it tonight it was gonna be a long one.

"I… would like to… apologize. For my earlier actions." Connor sounded nervous and unsure of what he was saying. "It was not my intent to make things uncomfortable for you, or between.. us. I have been told that I lack a sense of boundary and personal space."

Gavin awkwardly rubbed his cheek, feeling the beginning of a light flush creeping up on him, God he hated how easily he got embarrassed by the Android. Maybe it was how genuine the thing always sounded catching him off guard and making him react. Ironically the whole apology was making him feel uncomfortable. "Talk about a fucking understatement."

Another silence followed and Gavin was started to feel bothered once more. Finally he just decided to ask. "So is it like some kind of fetish? Or…like an Android thing?"

"A fetish?" The Android sounded confused, "Is what a-"

"The fucking scar kink or whatever it is you have, just like," God he had made himself even more uncomfortable just trying to explain it. "You know, you're whole," he waved his hand back and forth between them searching for a word. "Fascination or some shit, with them. You mentioned Anderson's so is it like something you annoy people about often?" Now the flush on his face felt more prominent, he couldn't stare the Android down so resorted to glancing between the alley way and back entrance.

"You think I feel sexual gratification from… seeing your scars?" Christ that made it sound even worse, the last thing Gavin wanted to be thinking about at the moment was the robot wacking off. Let alone wacking off to his body.

"Jesus Christ plastic," The detective rubbed between his eyes. "No I mean like, fuck. It's just weird alright? They're not something people usually wanna see unless they're like comparing or some fucking weirdo about it. Just- just forget I said anything. "He felt stupid for even trying to bring it up with the oblivious robot.

"Oh! No, no it's nothing like that. At least I don't believe it to be so. Intercourse isn't something I am interested in, nor do I have a need for any kind of sexual release so I don't believe my interest lies on the sexual spectrum." Connor shifted in his seat and stopped tapping to bring his hands together now, leaning backward in thought. "I suppose the term would be that I find them aesthetically pleasing? It's not all scars, as I had stated previously when comparing yours to the ones I have seen on Hank," the android paused like he was searching for the right way to say something. When he did he turned to meet the detectives gaze. "the contrast of your skin tone with them is rather...complementary. To be completely honest with you Reed, I'm not fully sure of why I want to see them or the stories behind them. However, what I am sure of is that I don't want to continue making you uncomfortable as that would be detrimental to us solving the case."

Gavin looked away and sighed, hand reaching up to scratch at the back of his head. "This fucking conversation is making me uncomfortable, just admit you think they're different or weird looking for christ sake. You're not the first person I've ever had to deal with staring." Deep down he almost felt disappointed that it was just because the android found them neat to look at, but he didn't even like the machine in the first place so there was no reason to be as upset as he was. "I gotta go grab a drink."

"Reed wa-" Gavin climbed out and slammed the door before the android could continue. He needed some fresh air and to be away from the plastic prick for a moment. They were only an hour into the stakeout, and he had managed to circle back to the subject and then run away like a little bitch when he didn't get the answer he wanted.

Reaching the vending machine the detective paused, what answer did he want? That some stupid fucking robot wanted to bone him and tell him how beautiful they looked? Yeah right, that's the last thing he'd wanna deal with. Some stupid lovesick toaster following him around and trying to get in his pants sounded like a nightmare.

"Detective! What a surprise," Speaking of the devil. The hair on the back of his neck shot up and his fingers clenched into a fist at the sound of that familiar sing song voice. He was going to just ignore the prick. Fishing out his wallet Gavin found his credit card and went to put it into the card reader. Before he could a pale hand snatched it away, the owner of it turning around and leaning into the other machines. It was the android from earlier that day, still goddamn obnoxious but now at least welling a dress shirt. "Thirsty?" The way it said those words made it sound like he wanted anything other than a drink. He was pissed off and snapped a hand out to grab it back, the taller robot easily pulling back and holding it out of reach. He was not in the mood for this right now.

"You wanna he charged with fucking theft tin can?" He grabbed a fistful of its shirt and slammed it against the vending machine. Once again it barely reacted, icy eyes leering back at him.

"Are we going to play cops and robbers? Because there's a lot of things I wanna steal from you." A hand slid up his chest coming to rest along the side of his neck, it sent a cold chill down his spine and made him grit his teeth. He didn't even have to think before deciding to slam his fist into the machines smug mouth. The credit card clattered to the ground between them, but he was too angry to care. Both hands now fisting the androids half open shirt and slamming him once again against the row of machines.

"Do you have a death wish? I fucking told you once already to keep your filthy hands off of me. I don't give two fucks what the new laws say, try it again and I'll send you to the scrapyard." There was a steady stream of blue blood pouring out of the androids busted upper lip, and some from his one nostril. A hand around his throat shocked him, before he could react he was being slammed against the wall behind him. Icy eyes looking at him like they could kill. The Android spit out a large amount of thirium before using its free hand to grab Gavin's that had went for his gun on his hip.

"I hate pigs like you, you wanna pretend you aren't lurking outside this club to leer at us and try and pretend you're so much better than some… what was it you said earlier?" the hand around his throat tightened and Gavin let out a choked noise pulling his hand free to try and pry the hand away. "Glorified vibrator? You wanna play coy but I know the truth. You're just scared to admit you wanna be fucked by one of us robots, you humans made us for that purpose." The Android used its newly freed hand to grab him between his legs, face looming so close their noses were touching. "I bet you wouldn't like being treated like some sex toy, would you detective?" The hand tightened even further fully cutting off his windpipe and making him kick his legs out, fingers digging in so hard there was blue blood dripping down onto the pavement below them. "I could easily do whatever I wanted to you."

Suddenly he was released and collapsed to the ground coughing. "But I'd rather see you beg for it." A hand fisted in his hair and yanked his head up to meet the plastic bastards eyes. His insides felt both hot and disgustingly cold at the same time. He wasted no time using his newly freed hand to plunge another fist into the machines stomach, thankfully it stumbled back just as Connor had when he'd done it last year. Gavin wipes his mouth and stood up, pulling his gun on the kneeling Android. His blood was boiling and hand shaking just slightly. He was going to blow this stupid fucking machines circuits all over the walls.

"Gavin!" Connor's panicked voice and the sound of shoes running on asphalt came closer. The android stared up at him eyes wide with fear now, all its previous confidence gone. He jammed the barrel of the gun against its temple.

"Gavin don't!" He gritted his teeth, and rested his finger against the trigger. Every fiber in his body wanted to just pull the trigger and shove the pricks body out back in the dumpster , but he knew that would make him no better than the sick fuck they were chasing after.

"Gavin don't kill him, he's on his knees. It's not self defense anymore, we can haul him into the station and arrest him for assaulting an officer, just thin-" Connor was in front of him now hand pressed against the androids shoulder, the other one held up while his brown eyes looked at him panicked and pleading him to listen. He was right, at this point it wasn't self defense, it would be murder. But when did it become murder to him? Last year he wouldn't ever consider using the word in relation to a bot. Why was he feeling different now?

"Phck,"Gavin cursed so hard it came out like a hiss, pistol whipping the android instead. "Listen here you plastic fuck, I wasn't the creep who made you some stupid sex doll. If you've got a problem with it that bad get a new goddamn job, don't try and goat me into ending your pathetic life for you." He punched the brick wall behind him hard enough to draw blood. "Consider yourself lucky this asshole was here." Snatching his card off the ground Gavin started back towards the car. "Let him go."

He felt sick to his stomach, everything was twisting inside him and made him want to scream. There were more important things to worry about than taking out one stupid robot tonight. Let alone doing so in front of that stupid doe eyed fuck.


	7. Chapter 7

A fetish, that's what the detective had called his interest. The moment the words came out his systems had gone into overdrive, searching the internet far and wide to decipher what exactly the detective had meant. Despite having access to all information possible on the subject Connor had found himself even more confused than before he had learned the meaning.

Reed's reactions throughout the encounter only dumbfounded him more, the man had cycled through several feelings before Connors eyes. Anger, embarrassment, fear, and some he couldn't quite make out. Every moment together was revealing the many layers of the detective. Before this assignment he had assumed Reed was just your average macho male detective, almost stereotypical at times with his hatred of androids and quickness to escalate situations to violence. While those original assumptions hadn't changed much over the several hours spent together, they were being expanded upon. It was fascinating in a way, unraveling the outer sheep and peeking inside to see who the detective really was. Much like Hank had shown him last year, humans were so more complex than androids ever could be.

Connor felt like he had failed once again, when Reed took off out of the car. Yet another misunderstanding making the mood tense between them. He hadn't realized just how self conscious the detective seemed to be about his looks. It was surprising really, observing Reed from afar he didn't come off as such. Jeans were usually slightly stained or tore, along with his old jacket that he wore almost all year long. The only thing consistently put together about the man was his hair, but even that was a simple bit of combing and little product.

Eyes followed the detective as he stormed over to a set of vending machines, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets, back hunched. Deep down Connor felt that familiar stirring in his stomach. His mind was replaying the previous encounter, he was still shocked Reed had accused him of being interested in his body sexually. To be honest until that moment it had never crossed the androids mind, that he could be sexually interested in something. Cyberlife had more than appropriately equipped him with the parts necessary for sexual intercourse, not with any recreational aspect in mind of course, but in the case of him being sent undercover. While removing his LED could allow him to blend in remotely well, if a situation arose where his lower half had become exposed anything less than what a real human possessed would immediately expose him.

But before a few minutes ago the android hadn't even considered the possibility. Now he felt like it might be worth investigating. There were many new quality of life software updates that Cyber Life released, all of which he had downloaded without a second thought upon Markus and Hanks suggestion. Surely there were some of a sexual nature, perhaps Reed was correct. His new emotions could have run slightly amuck, their sudden partnership and his own preconceptions and confusing feelings towards the detective muddling things. It could just be too much all at once for him to decipher properly, causing them to go slightly haywire.

A strange figure joining Reed drew the androids attention back. Taking a moment to leer closer, the figure was quickly identified as the male android from earlier that day. The one who had harassed Reed and severely pissed him off. Something felt like it tightened inside him. The android was looking ever closer to the detective, suddenly being pressed against the vending machine, a hand resting between them on Reeds chest. From so far away and his back now facing him Connor couldn't tell what was going on. Only the smug look on the androids face was visible to him. His earlier suspicions about the detectives sexuality flickered to the front of his mind. Surely if Reed was interested in men, he could find the android attractive, afterall he was a HR400 model, made to be as sexually appealing as possible.

Connor felt his hands tighten into fists of their own accord at the thought of the detective being intimate with the Traci. The feeling inside him was intensifying, being joined by confusion as well. There was no reason for him to feel upset about such thoughts, so why was he? Connor wasn't able to dwell on the thought before his attention was yanked back to the scene before him. Reed had sucker punched the android in the face before shoving him harder against the vending machines. Both of the mans' fists now balled up into the androids shirt. Relief surprised Connor, not expecting the sudden action. The android felt a tad silly for his previous worry, Reed was far from secretive about his disgust and hatred of androids. Of course he wouldn't be intimate with one, especially not out in public.

Connor made no move to interfere just yet, remembering how angry the detective had been earlier that day when recounting how said android had harassed him. Despite his own distaste for violence he knew that getting between the detective right now would not help their partnership, or trust. He owed it to Reed to trust him to not take the situation too far. If he wanted to defend himself it was none of Connors business to intrude, at least he told himself until suddenly the detective was being slammed against the opposite wall. Connors eyes locking on to the hand around his throat and then darting down to how the tips of his shoes scraped back and forth along the pavement trying to find purchase. He was opening the car door before he could even fully process what he was seeing, even at this distance he could hear the small choking sound the detective made before hitting the ground. His own feet were rushing across the asphalt, Reed was quick to regain his composure and knock back the attacker. Gun coming out making Connor feel panic.

"Gavin!" Despite there only being a parking lot between them the distance felt terrifyingly large. The gun was jammed against the androids skull now. "Gavin don't!" Connor could see how Reed's hands shook slightly now, finally only a few feet apart. His mind was running through scenarios where he could intervene physically if necessary but all had a risk of possible injury or the gun firing and drawing attention. It would be best to just talk the detective down right now, convince him to just bring the android in for assaulting an officer. ""Gavin don't kill him, he's on his knees." Connor slowly made his way over and rested a hand on the fellow androids shoulder. Trying his best to plead with the detective with his eyes and voice. He looked disheveled and tired, Connor cursed himself for not intervening sooner. Making mistakes like

this wasn't something normal for him. "It's not self defense anymore, we can haul him into the station and arrest him for assaulting an officer, just thin-"

Before he could finish the detective had cursed and cracked the android across the side of its head with the gun instead. His finger jamming towards the androids face. "Listen here you plastic fuck, I wasn't the creep who made you some stupid sex doll. If you've got a problem with it that bad get a new goddamn job, don't try and goat me into ending your pathetic life for you." Reed was still angry but at least had put his gun back into the holster on his hip. The fist connecting with brick made the android beside him flinch, eyes still wide. "Consider yourself lucky this asshole was here." Reed was glaring at him now, face contorted in a strange way that made Connor want to stop him. "Let him go."

Both androids looked shocked as the detective stormed back to his car. Connor was confused by Reed's command, he wasn't going to have him follow through with arresting the Traci?

"Thank R9 you were here, I don't think I've ever misjudged someone that bad before." The Traci next to him sighed, making Connor look down. His thirium had stopped leaking, but the bit that had dried still remained. The front of his shirt painted blue. Connor felt some irritation at the relief the Traci was displaying as he climbed back to his feet. "That could have ended badly for me, heck that could've been the end"

"Despite my partners actions I would like to remind you that your actions broke Michigan's penal code 750.81d. Which is a felony punishable under detroit law and could result in prison time or worse; deactivation." Connor was bluffing slightly with the threat of deactivation, maybe before the rebellion that would be the go to response but now androids were being treated just like every other civilian. He felt angry, and for once he could easily identify the reason his hands itched to ball up into fists. Letting the Traci go with no consequence didn't set right with him, but it was what Reed told him to do.

"I mean it was a total misunderstanding! And- and he tried to fucking kill me! C'mon, you can't seriously be siding with the human here!" The android turned to face Connor, anger evident on its face. "That cop would have killed me without a second thought if his partner was a human instead of you. We both know how they treat us, new laws be damned, they still don't consider us people!"

Connor grabbed the Traci by the back of his shirt and started marching him towards the back door. "That might be true, but androids like you are making things harder on all of us. I would highly recommend you not solicit an officer of the law, or put your hands on them when rejected. You're right, you are lucky that I was here tonight. Next time won't be the same." He may have shoved his fellow android a bit harder than necessary into the door. "So it's in your best interest to go back inside, and not tell anyone about what happened tonight."

Even after the heavy door had clattered closed Connor still felt himself bubbling with agitation. A glance over to the car settled him slightly, knowing Reed was inside away from any more disturbances was a slight relief. He saw the bright yellow reflection of his LED spinning endlessly in the glass of one of the vending machines. It took a moment of standing there, doing the calming breaths Hank had taught him earlier that year before it finally returned to its solid blue state. As pointless as doing them felt he had to admit they were quite effective for an android such as himself. A tan wrapper caught his eye, reminding him that the detective had originally come out here to buy a drink before he was interrupted. Hopefully cold brew canned coffee would suffice, the man did seem to enjoy it hot.

After a few moments of fidgeting with the old machine and a rather nerve wracking clatter of the can tumbling to the bottom, Connor was on his way back to the car. Opening the door, he leaned down and peered inside at Reed. The detective had his seat reclined slightly, both feet pulled, one bent with his foot planted firmly on the dash, the other bent to rest his notepad against. Gray eyes locked onto his own, a scowl still present on the mans tense face. Connor smiled in reply, pulling up the coffee can as a peace offering. "Is cold brew alright?"

Reed studied him for a moment and Connor felt slightly silly for not just climbing into the car, but the man finally clicked his tongue and reached out to take the drink. "Took you long enough, dipshit." The insult was spoken so softly Connor almost didn't hear it, Reed averting his eyes as soon as the can was in his hands. For some reason it made Connor's smile widen as he climbed back into the car. A nice silence followed, only the sounds of Reed's small sips, the occasional flip of his notepad paper, and the soft pelts of light rain hitting the windshield to fill the empty space. He found he enjoyed sitting there in the quiet with Reed, watching the drops of rain race down the front windshield, eyes scanning the area every now and again, over two hours passed by before the silence was interrupted.

"That's three times now you know," Reed spoke suddenly, voice low and eyes still focused on whatever it was he was reading in his own notes.

"What was?" Connor inquired, genuinely curious. However the detective didn't look at him when he replied.

"Three times you've done it today...called me by my first name. I'm starting to notice a pattern with it." Finally he raised his gaze for their eyes to meet, Connor felt slightly nervous about the serious look within them. "I'm a cop, they teach us in the academy about using a suspect's name or nickname to build rapport, help ground them. You're not very slick plastic."

Connor blinked in response, not quite sure how to respond, Reed spoke before he could anyway. "Probably was a good thing you were here," The brunette let out a soft sigh and turned back to his notepad. "For a moment...forget it," He reached up and rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

"For a moment?" Connor repeated back, just as softly. Curious as to what the detective was about to say. Reed was quiet for a few more moments before anxiously scratching his scalp and continuing.

"For a moment...I considered doing what this prick we are looking for does. Just popping one in the tin cans skull and tossing him into the dumpster like yesterdays trash." Reed was still speaking quietly, resting his face on his hand Connor could hear the tiredness in his voice. "Last year I wouldn't have even considered what he's doing murder, heck last week I didn't really…" there was a pause before Reed finally looked over at him, expression hard to read. "It's weird, thinking about you bots as anything more than walking talking computers. Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to handle this case. You hop on and in barely a day we have a lead and are now sitting here waiting for the guy to just fall into our laps. Pisses me off."

"I'm sorry if I've made you doubt your own investigative skills detect-" Connor began apologizing, but Reed cut him off tone filling with slight annoyance.

"I thought I said to drop the detective shit, Jeeze, you'd think you bots would have some fucking semblance of a memory." Though his tone was rude Connor didn't feel the usual level of hostility, in fact over the past few minutes Reed's whole demeanor had seemed less guarded. Perhaps the long day was wearing down his tough guy resolve. "I ain't never said I was doubting shit tin can. I know I'm a hell of a better detective than some toaster like you, was just trying to say that sometimes my mouth can get me sidetracked from the investigation. Complicate things and drag them out, is all."

There was a slight flush creeping across Reeds face as he spoke. He tiredly rubbed his palms against his eyes with a yawn. He kept them there as he spoke. "Forget it, I need a fucking nap. Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious, and wake me up," Reed pulled a lever to his left and the seat flung backwards, one arm coming to rest above his head and the other across his stomach. After a few seconds one of his eyes peeked open and met Connors. "Don't try anything weird while I'm out plastic, or I'll change my mind about stuffing a body in the dumpster tonight."

"No need to worry, I won't allow any harm or 'weirdness' to occur while you rest." Connor observed how quickly the detectives body had relaxed once reclined, like the fatigue of a long day settling in all at once. Reed resting now would allow him to be more alert and focused later when the time to apprehend their suspect came, there was close to 3 hours left before they thought he might show up. Making for a nice nap to allow the detective to recharge. He smiled softly over at Reed, hoping to convey how serious he was. The gray eye peering at him squinted, mouth twisting slightly before he let out a frustrated sigh and pulled his arm down to rest over his eyes.

"Fucking weird ass robot…"

Connor could pinpoint the exact moment 18 minutes later when the detective had finally fully fallen asleep. There was a shift in his breathing and he wagered that if he were to reach his fingers out and press against the side of his wrist he would've felt the shift in his heart rate too. Any remaining tension in the man's body melted away, features softening, lips parted slightly. At some point he had moved his arm back above his head and turned his face to tuck himself against his elbow. One knee had been pulled up and leaned against the door, shoe planted firmly on the chair. It amused Connor in a way, the strange ways humans would curl up when resting. There were many times he had woken Hank up in the morning and found him sprawled out or curled around a loose pillow, somehow never seeming to settle on one set comfortable sleeping position.

For a brief moment he found himself envisioning what it might be like to wake Reed up for work. He wondered if the detective would be irritable, cursing under his breath and demanding coffee. Hair sticking up like it had been earlier at the apartment, he could see the brunette barefoot padding over the kitchen counter where he stood, a steaming cup of coffee in hand. Unlike their previous encounter at the station last year, Reed would take it, muttering a half hearted thanks, voice still thick with sleep. Connor felt his thirium pump quicken at the thought of the detective suddenly leaning forward to press their lips together in a chaste kiss. As soon as the thought crossed his mind it was swatted away, his previous curiosity being replaced with confusion. The thought had come out of nowhere, shocking him. Kissing was something Connor had yet to do, nor any urge for. While everyone around him android and human alike were interested in pursuing relationships it was something that Connor had never put any thought into.

So why would he have Reed kiss him in this scenario? It most definitely wasn't a part of his and Hank's morning routine, the lieutenant would ruffle his hair some days or pat him on the shoulder but never kiss him. Searching through his memory Connor came up with a scene from an old movie he had watched one night with Hank, where a husband kissed his wife similarly in the morning. Hank has called it a rom-com movie, which was one where romance and comedy was blended together. Overall Connor had enjoyed the movie and its insights it gave into human relationships. Perhaps his system had momentarily replicated the scene on accident. That seemed like the most likely answer.

Activity at the back of the club drew Connors attention away from his thoughts, he had no need for the discarded binoculars lying between them to see what was going on. His eyes able to zoom in slightly on their own, it wasn't likely to be their suspect. From all accounts it looked like the average cluster of men, drunk and enjoying themselves as they made their way back to their cars. Despite the extremely low chance of their involvement Connor still kept an eye on all of them until they had gotten inside their vehicles and driven away. Over the next three hours several more people had come out the rear door, some to use the vending machines, smoke, walk home, and even one couple who had a passionate moment against the wall. Connor felt a bit uncomfortable watching the female android and man go at it, after what had happened just earlier in the day he was surprised any of them would feel safe or comfortable enough to go outside alone with a customer.

Judging by the way she had smiled before dropping to her knees Connor assumed she was anything but uncomfortable. Unlike him, who immediately averted his eyes to look at the still sleeping detective next to him. The sight of Reed's peaceful sleeping form helping to settle his thirium pump some. At some point the man had rolled on his side, now fully facing Connor- one arm tucked under his head and the other pulled up to his chest. A small stream of drool had leaked out of the side of his mouth. Connor couldn't help but take the chance to properly look at the detective, he was surprised to find not only light freckles strewn sporadically across his cheeks and some on his forehead but also several more smaller and lighter scars. It was likely they came about around the same time as the darker prominent one that sat diagonally across the detectives nose. Seeing them he was starting to piece together possible causes, the most likely one being shattered glass, perhaps from a car accident? Once more he found himself itching to reach out and just, touch. Trace the soft lines they wove, feel the subtle differences in texture they caused along the mans face.

Folding his hands in his lap Connor ignored the urge and instead leaned back in his seat and continued roving his gaze over his temporary partners face. Next he noticed a small scar adorning the detectives bottom lip, the lighter pink gash sticking out clearly, undoubtedly it had come from one of the mans many fights. His eyes fell to the detectives hand, as he expected it also was covered in what looked like dozens of small scars. A few of which looked deep enough to have been caused by teeth. Connor couldn't help but be curious about the causes of each scar adorning the detective, some he could easily connect to police reports in the mans file but there were more that had no listed explanation. It was his in his original programming to try and find out as much information as he possibly could, despite deviancy the desire still remained. He was lucky that Hank was more forthcoming nowadays about any questions Connor had, no matter how 'ridiculous' they were. Reed however didn't seem like the type to easily give up personal information, or humor his curiosity.

Reed suddenly shifted in his sleep drawing Connor's attention back up to his face. The brunettes eyebrows were pulled together tightly, his teeth gritting. He looked distressed, it was a look Connor had become familiar with once he had moved in with Hank. There were times when suddenly at night the older man would stir in his sleep, sometimes his body would thrash or he would shout out. Prompting both Connor and Sumo to rush to his side. The first time it had happened Connor had panicked slightly, fearing the lieutenant was in cardiac arrest from his poor diet and the stress of his job. However to his shock when he had reached out to try and calm the man and to check his vitals he had shot awake. His deceased son's name falling from his lips in a panic, hands gripping tightly onto Connor's arms. Though they didn't talk about it, Connor had realized in the brief moments before Hank had fully awoken and he had held onto him so tightly in a hug were because in his tired state he had confused Connor for his son. Once he had fully awoken and calmed down he had explained what nightmares were to Connor, and how they were something that humans just had. Reed looked like he was starting to suffer through one right now, the way his hands had tightened into fists and his body curled up into a defensive pose.

Instantly Connor reached out, intending to comfort the detective the same way he does Hank. As soon as his fingers brushed against Reed's shoulder however the man's eyes burst open, his hand shooting up to slap Connors away, whole body jerking upright to a sitting position. There was panic in his wide eyes, Connor could see the beginning of tears wettening the edges as they darted around the car before finally settling on him. "Gavin it's me Con-"

"I-I know who you are you plastic prick!" The brunette sounded breathless, still pressing his body against the car. Hand now clutching the front of his hoodie, feeling his own heart while the other ran through his hair. "phck," His gaze dropped from Connor's to settle somewhere on his chest. There was a light sheen of sweat on the detective, his complexion looking somewhat pale. Connor wondered to himself what Reed's nightmares consisted of, scared was a look he hadn't expected to see given the detectives cocky and headstrong behavior. He wasn't sure how to comfort the man, any kind of physical contact was sure to upset him. His fingers tightened around dead air before dropping back to his lap, his body still leaning towards the detective, eyes searching his face for reactions as he spoke.

"Everything is alright, we're still in the vehicle outside of Eden Club. Almost 4 hours have passed since you first laid down detective, there has been no outwardly suspicious activity outside the club. Is there anything I can help you with?"

To his surprise Reed hadn't cut him off like he had expected him to. Instead the man had slumped back against the door and dug the palms of his hands into his eyes. Tension slowly leaving his body, exhaustion replacing it. Connor recognized that, Hank would always say waking up from a terror would drain his energy right away. Usually he would go to the kitchen and pour a cold glass of water for the detective to drink but he was severely lacking in terms of a sink and glassware in his current situation. Suddenly remembering the duffle bag from earlier Connor pulled it onto his lap and began to root through it, feeling relieved when he did find several water bottles tossed haphazardly inside. Reed was staring at him by the time he finally pulled one out and offered it up, an indecipherable look on his face. A beat passed before the brunette snatched the bottle from his hand and drank half of it down in one go. Connor's eyes falling to the bob of his adam's apple with each harsh swallow, a small stream of water escaping his lips to drip down his neck.

"Are you-" Connor started to inquire once more but Reed seemed to finally find his voice again, cutting him off.

"I'm fine," Once more the detective was avoiding his gaze, choosing to hang his head and press the half empty bottle against his temple. Connor waited a moment before deciding to speak again.

"Hank also struggles with terrors from time to time," He let the words hang in the air, not sure what else to say. To his surprise Reed sighed and shifted back to a more casual position in his seat, hands reaching to grab a discarded set of binoculars.

"I would too if I had some robot creep living in my house." He made an annoyed hum. "One fucking day with you is enough to give me nightmares apparently, can't imagine a goddamn year."

"Your nightmare was about me?" Connor watched a slew of emotions play over the humans face before he finally settled on an embarrassed flush. Reed dropped the binoculars and turned to glare at him.

"Are you going to take fucking everything I say seriously? They couldn't program some common sense into you tin cans?" Connor was about to respond when a large vehicle approaching caught his eye. By the way Reed suddenly leaned forward and pulled back up the binoculars Connor assumed it had caught his too. Just like they had predicted it was a garbage truck, an older one at that, Miller & Co's Detroit Waste Disposal Service branded in thick lettering along the side. "Holy shit," Reed was grinning. "You were fucking right plastic, the asshole actually showed up."

The truck turned left, headlights illuminating their car and making both Connor and Reed shield their eyes. Peeking over his hand Connor realized he was backing up to the entrance of the alley, positioning the back of his truck near the fence. From there it would be as simple as just opening up the fence, pushing the dumpster into position and then using the truck to pick it up and dump its contents. Even if it was done in the daytime, no one would blink an eye, garbage men blended in with the background. There was no reason to suspect a body was being disposed of right in plain sight. The trucks lights remained on, Connor began running through scenarios in his head on how to get out of the car and over to the suspect without revealing their presence. He was struggling, there position didn't give him much to work with, but before he could finish Reed opened his door and climbed out.

"Detective-" Connor was shocked and made to grab his arm but Reed put up a finger and shushed him. Gun drawn low, he motioned for the android to follow. With him already out of the car there really wasn't much of a choice, so Connor found himself climbing out and rounding the car to get behind the brunette. Reed was quick and quiet about his movements, in under a minute he had crossed the lot and pressed his body against the side of the truck. Connor stayed close and peered around him, catching sight of the suspects broad back as he fiddled with the chain that kept the fence closed. The man looked to be 6'2, white with short cropped hair under his cap and as they suspected he looked to have a muscular build. Luckily for them he hadn't noticed their approach, his focus on the chain between the teeth of his bolt cutters. Seeing them made Connor grab Reed by the arm and step around him, putting the detective behind him.

"Sir, I need you to put the bolt cutters down and slowly turn around." His voice startled the man, body visibly tensing up, Connor noting how his fingers tightened around the tool. However he didn't make a move to turn around or even look back at them. Without seeing his face Connor still couldn't identify him or predict his next move. He decided to try and defuse the situation some, play good cop as Hank liked to say. "My names Connor, I work with the DPD. Me and my partner here just want to ask you a few questions. It's a bit early to be picking up the trash isn't it?"

"Not if you've got a long route," The man's voice was gruff, like he was a daily smoker, but his tone was surprisingly nonchalant. "I'm afraid we've got a bit of a misunderstanding here Officer." His free hand rose up above his head, the bolt clippers rising up on his others to rest by his chest. The man slowly turned around, his cap was pulled down over his eyes but Connor was still able to identify him.

Wilson, Benjamin

Born: 4/16/1992 /Garbage Truck Driver

Criminal Record: Domestic Abuse, Possession, Assault, Resisting Arrest

His wrap sheet went on, listing several more charges. All of which made Connor prepare for the encounter to turn sour. The man wasn't one to turn himself in without a fight, and his current partner wasn't one to turn down one either. The probability of them getting into an altercation shot up to 78%. "I'm sure you're right, a few questions and we can all be on our way." He faked a smile and took a few more steps forward, one hand staying by his hip where his cuffs sat. Connor watched the whole man's demeanor shift when he saw Reed's gun trained on him, and then as his eyes swung up to give Connor a once over. They paused at his head, no doubt locking onto his LED. Connor already suspected his being an android would draw the man's attention, it was one of the reasons he put himself ahead of Reed, if the man decided to resist he would want to focus a lot of his anger on him over the detective.

"You pull guns on every garbage man you see?" The man's lips curled up into a smile. Behind him Connor heard Reed take a few steps forward. Irritation was evident in the detectives voice.

"You make it a habit of breaking into alleyways to collect some trash?"

"Lost my key, didn't wanna bother the owner. Like you said it's just some trash Officer." The smile remained but he began lowering the bolt cutters, Connor didn't like the look in his eyes. They were locked on his own, never even glancing over at Reeds despite talking to him. "I still can't believe the department is continuing to use these robots after everything that happened last year, I know I wouldn't want to trust them." There was a soft clink when the top of the tool touched the pavement.

"I couldn't give two shits about what your think, now drop the fucking cutters and stay where you are." Reed threatened once more and Connor put his hand up to try and calm the detective down.

"Detective," Connors eyes snapped over to meet Gavin's finding confusion there. He hoped Reed would just follow his lead, and allow him to de-escalate the situation. "There's no need for any of us to act hasty now. Like I said Benjamin, we just want to ask you a few questions."

"I don't remember giving you my name, sparky." His grip tightened and loosened once more, a curious look passing over his face.

Fully facing him once more Connor smiled and pointed up to his head. "You're right, you didn't. I'm a specialized detective android, I've already identified you and pulled up your record. That's how I know you just got off probation Benjamin, and I can imagine you wouldn't want to be placed on it again. Which doesn't need to happen, if you just take a moment to talk with me and my partner. Clear a few things up and then we can all be on our way."

Throughout his offer Benjamin began to chuckle a little and look between the two of them. Waiting until Connor had finished to call out to Reed once more. "Hoo boy, he's good. Must make your job real easy, no need to even bother taking ID's when your little robot buddy can do all that. Hell, no reason for you to even be here is there?"

"Drop the damn tool Ben." Connor was grateful Reed wasn't taking the bait. He didn't take his eyes off of the man in front of him. They were only a few feet apart, if needed he should be able to tackle him and get the cutters away from him long enough for Reed to move in closer and assist him. Then it would be as easy as slapping on the cuffs and calling in to the station for forensics to come grab the truck.

"You see, usually I would." Ben laughed. "But we all know this isn't some coincidence, you two being here. Let's drop the bullshit," His eyes jumped between the two of them, tone cocky. Connor shifted his weight onto one leg, he had already decided on what angle he would run at to take the man down.

"Don't think I won't shoot scumbag, drop the fucking weapon and get on your knees!" Reed's outburst only seemed to further amuse the suspect, Connor ignored his laughter and watched for an opening. Suddenly the suspect stopped and his gaze snapped back over to Reed, his face contorting into a scary smile instead. It gave Connor the opening he wanted, but as soon as he took a step forward he realized Benjamin wasn't looking at Reed. He was looking behind him. Everything slowed down in that moment for Connor, despite the momentum propelling him forward he was able to turn and look, a hooded figure coming up behind Reed knife in hand. They hadn't checked the truck. They had just assumed he was alone and went in without covering their backs. He had made a huge mistake. A possibly deadly mistake- Reed had no idea there was someone behind him, he was going to be killed.

"Gavin! Behind-" Connor managed to force the words out of his mouth and saw the realization dawn on the detectives face before a hard force cracked into the side of his own head. The impact sent him down to the ground on his side. His vision glitched and error messages clouded his gaze. The gravel beneath his fingers stuttering into view, sound muffled on the side he had been hit, a quieted gunshot ringing out. Connor's thirium pump was pounding, he felt disoriented and panicked. He needed to get up and help Reed, he couldn't just lay on the ground. There were sounds of a scuffle somewhere behind him, distantly Connor registered that the impact of what he assumed was the bolt cutters severely damaged his left audio processor and more than likely split open his synthetic skin going off of all the thirium he felt and saw on the gravel beneath him. He had gotten up on his knees when a harsh kick sent him back onto his side. Upon opening his eyes once more Connor was able to put an arm up just in time to block another blow to his head. The bolt cutters cracking against the plastic of his forearm and splitting it open as well. Ben had a crazed look in his eyes, there was blood splattered along the side of his face and neck. Seeing it sent a surge of fear through Connor's body and jumped him out of his daze.

Sweeping his leg out he was able to knock the larger man back onto his ass and give himself time to struggle to his feet. His now injured arm cradled against himself, the blow had done extensive damage and he was losing thirium fast from both wounds. He would have to somehow disarm and restrain the suspect with only one hand now, it wasn't possible. Another gunshot and pained grunt drew both of their attention over to where Reed had been. Connor felt both relieved and terrified when he saw the detective on his back struggling with his attacker. There was thirium and blood splattered on his clothes, among it all Connor could see a knife buried into the brunettes shoulder. His face contorted in pain, gun clattering to the ground next to them. Connor made to rush and grab the gun but was knocked onto his knee as the bolt cutters slammed into the back of his legs, his good hand catching him from fully hitting the ground. Distorted voices cut in and out above him but Connor's focus was on Reed. Flinching when a harsh fist caught his cheek and lip, the skin splitting and a trickle of blood leaking out to pour down his cheek.

For a horrifying moment the attacker raised the knife over his head as if to plunge it deep into the detectives chest and Connor felt like all the thirium had drained out of his body. Leaving him feeling cold and hollow, body struggling forward despite there being no way he would reach the two in time. The androids hands froze in the air and once again he heard a muffled and distorted voice.

"Lea….m...we….ed….go!" Turning his head he saw it was Benjamin talking, the man was limping and had blood trailing him as he walked. Remembering the two gunshots he had heard Connor realized one must have hit him in the leg, it also should have been heard inside the club and by anyone within the last few blocks. Cops would be on their way, the average response time for this area being 11 minutes. Assuming roughly at least four minutes has passed since the last shot that meant they wouldn't have much almost collapsed in relief but he had to get to Reed and stop the bleeding. Thankfully the mystery android did drop the knife and climb off of Reed to help Benjamin back to the truck like he suspected they would. Connor watched them climb into it, the vehicle starting up and pulling away by the time Connor reached Reed. The brunette was cursing and groaning in pain. He sent out an alert to any units coming what the make and model of the dump truck was, along with descriptions. Making sure to broadcast that an officer was down and requiring immediate medical assistance as well.

"Fuck, what-what're you doing plastic?" Reed was grunting, this close Connor could make out his voice with little distortion, one hand pressed tight against his own wound. Blood seeped between his fingers, scrambling for purchase on the loose gravel to push himself up into a sitting position. His cursing and demands died in his throat when Connor finally came into view. "Go get th-"

Judging by the look in his eyes Connor could only imagine how bad he looked. His appearance wasn't a concern at the moment however, scanning over Reed's injuries was. There were several fresh bruises beginning to appear on his face, around his jaw and right eye. A superficial cut along one cheek, bottom lip busted, nothing serious. However his pupils were dilated meaning he more than likely had a concussion, Connor bet if he were to feel the back of the detectives skull he'd find a lump or gash from when his head most likely hit the ground in the scuffle. A drop of thirium plopped onto Reed's cheek and slid down, leaving a soft blue trail leading into his hair. It made Connor pause and take a moment to wipe his own blood away from his eyes. His hand came back soaked, checking his thirium levels they were low but not at a dangerous point just yet.

"Fuck, you're bleeding bad." Reed sputtered below him drawing his attention back, he looked even more pained than before. Face scrunched up, his free hand came up and his fingers pressed along what Connor assumed was the gash lining the side of his head. The detectives touch was surprisingly gentle and almost hesitant. Deep down something inside him stirred, but he quickly pushed down the feeling and focused his attention now to the detectives chest.

"I'll be fine," Connor found his own voice even sounded funny. The damage to his left audio processor was extensive and would most likely need completely replaced. "I'm not in danger of shutting down just yet, you've lost a lot of blood, we need to stop the bleeding. Help should be arriving any minute." Getting up onto his knees properly Connor gently brushed off Reed's hand and placed his palm against the brunettes own. They could apply more pressure with two hands and at the moment Connor could only use one. "This is going to hurt." He warned before pressing down, blood seeped up and threw both of their fingers. Reed jerked and yelled through clenched teeth. His free hand fisting into the front of Connors jacket, bringing him down and their faces close together. Connor had his whole weight pressing into the wound now, making the detective gasp and curse. He found himself pulled even closer, their foreheads coming to rest against one another. Now Connor could feel every hot pained gasp that escaped from Reed's lips, as waves of pain no doubt rolled over the mans body. His eyes were tightly shut, eyebrows scrunched together, as he let out a few shaky breathes. There was a flood of relief that washed over him as the distorted sounds of sirens grew near.

A low thirium level warning flashed on the edge of Connors vision, he chose to ignore it and close his eyes. The ambulance would be here soon, he could turn himself into low power mode and make it. Gavin would be okay. He hadn't completely failed his objective.


End file.
